


To Die Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure

by NinaKing



Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M, Origins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-04-16 19:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 53,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4637445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinaKing/pseuds/NinaKing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters.

**"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."**

**Lance Armstrong**

 

** Carlisle **

 "Carlisle!" My father, Christopher Cullen, hollered as he walked through the door of our small home. His footsteps were heavy, his cane making the most noise as he shuffled towards me. My father was growing weaker with age, he refused to admit this, but anyone could see it.

 He lead hunts through the small English village we resided in and forest surrounding our homes, with a group of men from the village and fellow pastors he knew. They searched all night long, once every three days, for vampires, werewolves or witches. Anyone they could condemn as 'evil' and burn in front of everyone.

My father taught me from the age of five that creatures such as the ones they hunted were the work of the devil. They were placed on earth to do his bidding, to cause pain and suffering, and were dammed to spend eternity condemned in hell for what they are. Eighteen years later, and my father continues to teach me these things. My mother died giving birth to me, and my father raised me alone, so I had no one else to turn to and ask questions or doubt his teachings. 

 I spent most of my time inside, reading. My father home-schooled me until I was eighteen, when I began teaching myself and extending my education. Rather than being outside, working or finding myself a woman to settle down with and have children, like my father wanted me to do, I spent the days reading, studying, trying to better myself and trying to squeeze as much knowledge from the world around me as I could during my time alive.

"Get your head out of that book, boy!" He shouted, hitting me around the head with his cane. The wooden rod made sharp contact with my skull, sending a sharp jolt of pain through my head and making my brain rattle. "You're leading the hunts tonight." 

"Father, I honestly don't think that's the best idea." I replied, he knew my thoughts on hunting innocents and labelling them as 'guilty'.

 "I didn't ask your opinion," He replied curtly. "You're twenty three years old now, Carlisle. It's time you played your part in society. When I die, someone has to take over protecting our town, and that someone is you, so start looking forward to the idea or you're going to lead a very lowly life. I'm going to take you out to the town square later on tonight; Timothy will show you what to do."

 I merely replied with a nod, there was no use in arguing with my father. He was an old and powerful voice among the whispers of the town people. When my father's time comes and he passes on, I will be forced to take over his role in society, though his job is one I certainly would not wish to participate in. Helping people was my passion; I longed to become a doctor, to help people and to be able to save lives, though my dreams were farfetched. 

 I retired to my room for a while. The hunts take all night, from eight PM, when the sun sets, until six AM, when the sun returns and there was no time for sleeping. Anyone caught sleeping on the job would be shot in the foot to wake them up.

 As I laid down and closed my eyes, listening to the noises of the busy people on the square outside. Children laughing as they played in the summer weather, woman chatting about their busy lives and men, eagerly talking about the hunt later on tonight, I began to dream.

 My dream was clouded at first, different pictures playing through my mind, voices talking to me and other people, before it changed. The clouds, almost fog like, clouded my vision, before a figure stepped out of the mist.

 She was small, slender with a pale face and dark eyes. Her soft brown hair framed her heart shaped face, giving her a very innocent and beautiful appearance. At first I only stared, my light blue eyes captured by her dark ones, but then I realised how rude I was being, even if she was only a pigment of my imagination, I shouldn't forget my manners in front of a lady. I bowed and took her hand in mine, placing a kiss on the back of it.

 "Carlisle," She said softly, her voice as sweet as honey. "Be safe."

 I raised my eyebrows questioningly, not completely understanding what she was saying.

 "Whatever happens tonight is meant to be." She whispered before disappearing.

 I woke to the sound of my father knocking very loudly on my door. The dream I'd had left me tossing and turning on my bed to the point that my hair stood on ends. The woman's words chilled me to my bones. 

_Be safe._

Was that foreshadowing how the hunt would go...?

I shook my head free of the silly thoughts and smoothed my hair until it looked presentable; it was a dream and nothing more. Dwelling on dreams could lead people down mad paths, as I had observed from some of the locals in town who had lost their minds to imaginary people they could 'see' and 'speak with'. 

Another loud knock to my door had me slipping my shoes back on and leaving the sanctity of my room. It would do me no good to leave my father waiting any longer; as agitated as he was naturally, his impatience was famous amongst the other pastors. 

We walked in silence, through the dusty mud roads to the centre of town. I didn't try and converse with my father; we had so little to talk about. Occasionally he'd bring up some advise on the hunt tonight, or make an observation that he thought they were close to catching 'the beast' but he dropped his side of things when I merely nodded politely in turn. We continued on in silence until our feet hit the cobbled stones of the town centre.

 The sun was setting, throwing light rays across the square and the statue of our town's founder, Clarence Reynolds.

 "Men!" Timothy called, stepping on the base of the statue, his pitchfork high. "Tonight we capture a beast!" Hearing this, the men cheered loudly, waving their pitchforks and torches towards the sky. "For tonight, although Christopher Cullen steps down as our leader, his son and heir, Carlisle, will be leading us to victory!"

 I was passed through the crowd, men patting me on the back and giving me looks of admiration until I was hoisted up next to Timothy. The men stared at me expectantly, twenty faces waiting for me to say something.

 I stared at them for a moment before my father gave me a stern look from the back of the crowd. They were waiting on me to say something, and I could tell they wouldn't appreciate a lecture on how all of this was wrong and mislead. So I did what I had to do... I picked a pitchfork up and held it high, as Timothy had done so before me. "Let's go kill the creatures!" The men cheered enthusiastically, gaining volume as Timothy and I led them into the woods.

 "Your father confided in me with your feelings of the hunt," Timothy whispered as the men followed, chanting and waving goodbye to their families. "Just know, son. Out here, its kill or be killed."

 As we travelled further into the now dark forest, the men quietened. The only sound was the rustling trees, and the deep breathing and heavy footsteps of the hunters following.

 "What's that?" I whispered to Timothy, seeing something dripping down from a tree into the ground.

 "Sewage system but everyone knows vampires live in the tallest trees." He replied, gesturing the men forward.

 I looked into the hole in the earth, and heard dashing feet across the water below, too fast to be a mere human. "Listen!" I hissed quietly, causing the men to step around the hole and crouch down.

 Before anyone had a chance to step away from the hole, figures, faster than lightening, leapt from the ground and began attacking the men. Some retreated and ran back towards the village. Some fought back, but their bodies fell to the floor before they had a chance to do any damage.

 Before I could turn and join the men, I felt something push me to the ground. A pale face stared down at mine, cold, dark eyes locked with my blue ones. I was reminded of the girl from my dream before his face disappeared, sharp spikes pierced my neck and the weight of the creature was gone.

Had I been stabbed? The searing pain through my neck lead me to believe I had been, but when I brought my hand up I felt only grooves from sharp teeth under the pads of my fingers.

 I wanted to scream out in agony, but some men were still fleeing, if they knew I was bitten but not dead they'd shoot me anyway. Once my surroundings were silent, although the pain was spreading and I was bleeding heavily, I managed to crawl away and found a nearby Potato cellar on the outskirts of town, to hide myself in. 

As I lay among the vegetables, I felt a burning sensation in my chest, spreading through my veins slowly. The heat grew hotter, too hot, until I couldn't help it anymore and screamed out once, just once, in agony.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is, the first chapter copied over from my account at fanfiction.net.
> 
> If you're following it from there, please bare with me and understand that new chapters will happen once all is brought over and tweaked.
> 
> If you're a new reader, then thank you for reading! I hope you've enjoyed this so far, and you will continue to read it with the new chapters.
> 
> Thank you for all your views, kudos and comments!
> 
> NinaKing


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**"Why does shame and self-loathing become cruelty to the innocent?"**

**Anne Rice**

 

**Carlisle**

The pain lasted through the night, and the next day. On the second day of this pain, I had somehow managed to stay silent, although the urge to scream out was great. I could feel the sweat dampening my brow, but I refused to open my eyes, knowing that any lapse in my concentration would cause me whither and cry out in both frustration and pain, something the excruciating feeling spreading through my veins wanted me to do. The only thing I could imagine that would be spreading through my veins would be venom, from the vampire who bit me. The venom moved slowly, twisting and turning through every nerve and sinew of my body, dripping slowly like honey.

The only thing that kept me sane, that kept me from completely loosing myself in the pain, was her voice.

"Whatever happens tonight is meant to be."

Was my subconscious trying to warn me of something; a bigger picture perhaps? Or was it merely coincidence that he'd had that dream before tonight's events had occurred?

I couldn't focus on that. Thinking about one thing was painful enough, but more would surely kill me. Instead of asking questions, instead of thinking about the who, what, when, where, why? Of it all, I decided to focus only on her face. Her sweet expression.

Even if she was just something I'd dreamt up out of exhaustion, a mere pigment of my subconscious mind, she was still beautiful, and her beauty was something to hold on to.

When her face wasn't the only thing keeping me grounded anymore, I focused on other things. My father for instance. He was a strong willed, stubborn and sometimes cold man, but he was still a good father. After dealing with my mother's death and the stress of a child, he had to endure my adolescence and that wasn't a walk in the park for him.

As much as I loved and respected my father, he would do what was best for the community and that would be to kill me if he ever found me.

About an hour into the next, and what I hoped to be the final, day I heard noises outside the cellar, voices calling and talking to one another.

"Carlisle!" A voice I recognised as my fathers called. "Where are you son?"

I stayed silent, my father was right outside the cellar and if I moved, screamed or even breathed, he would most likely hear me, find me, and destroy me.

"Christopher," A second voice, most likely my father's friend Timothy, said. "It's time to give up, we've been searching for days, my men are tired and other people have family missing too. Let's just pray the beast was merciful and ended it quickly for Carlisle."

"You're right, old friend," My father replied. "Carlisle is with his mother now."

So I wasn't dead from the pain, and burning in hell. I was still very much alive, the flames of hell licking at my body, causing me to thrash noiselessly. Or perhaps I had passed on, and these were demons taunting me of the rest in heaven with my mother that I would never be granted.

It was probably only hours, but felt like days later when the pain started to lift from my toes and fingers. It moved slowly, the pain leaving very slowly, but it was leaving.

The fire that was once creeping through my veins moved swiftly to my throat, making me feel thirsty. No, more than that. Parched, dry as a bone and dehydrated were all good words, but none described the aching feeling in the base of my throat.

While I was pondering the correct to use to describe the feeling, my heartbeat picked up, faster than before, beating out a rhythm that had to be faster than anything I had seen or heard of before. The pain from other areas of my body moved, leaving me feeling cool and pain-free but it retreated to my heart, still beating at a furious speed, and blazed like the sun.

I continued to feel this new pain before my heart took off, much faster than before, feeling like it would gnaw through my ribcage at any moment. The heat that was being pumped around the organ sucked the remaining fire from the rest of my body, using it to fuel itself as it blazed ever hotter than before. The battle between the heat and the speed of my heart continued, reaching a scale that would have clearly killed me before.

My heart made a hollow thud, stuttered a few times, and then thudded for one last time.

There was no more sound. No more pain. No more heat.

Was I dead?

Slowly and cautiously I opened my eyes and looked around. I was still in the potato cellar, and I certainly wasn't dead. Gingerly I rose, feeling more graceful than ever before in my life, and gently pushed the door to open. The door shuddered, groaned and fell of the hinges, onto the floor, a large dent in the middle of it, where I had pushed.

I had only pushed it gently. Was I stronger now than before?

It was dark outside, clearly night and the clouds had blocked some of the night sky and stars. My vision was clearer, so much sharper than before. I could see every detail on a tree about a mile away from me.

Moving seemed so effortless now and I could think of so many more things, and still remember them at once. Looking down on the fallen door I wanted to test something. It had always been in my nature to be curious about things, and my curiosity won this time.

I removed my gaze from the door, all of the details of which I could see with exact clarity, and turned to the nearest tree. Wanting to make sure I didn't make a fool out of myself, I scanned my surroundings quickly; I saw nothing and could smell only the forest around me. The scents of the forest were mixed with a stale scent, obviously an old one, which made my throat tingle. The overwhelming urge to track down the scent and devour whatever created such a scent was strong, but I replaced my focus on the tree in front of me. Bracing myself, I placed my hands against the trunk and pushed.

The tree fell down with a loud and hard thud on the floor. I tried again on another tree, this time using one hand, the tree fell down lighter this time but still fell. Once more I tried to push the tree down, this time using only one finger. The last tree fell as the other two before him.

Grinning like a child on Christmas day I couldn't handle my excitement. From a young age I was taught that if anyone was ever bitten by a vampire, they would feel the flames of hell and die, this was something new altogether.

I became distracted momentarily by my skin. Where I had been quite pale before, my skin was white as the snow that fell during the winter months. It had a strange look about it, too. All the scars and bruises that had once littered my skin were gone, vanished completely. This new, stone-like skin, was unmarked.

The fact that I was now one of the vampires was obvious. And, as exciting as the experience seemed to me, I was a damned creature. Vampires go to hell and cause others pain. They fed on the blood of humans and had no souls, I didn't want to be a creature ruled by bloodlust but the fire in my throat ached for the relief that only human blood could give.

I turned on my heel and ran as fast as I could away from the cellar, the scent of my father and Timothy mixed together teased my throat. I noticed from the tress speeding past me, becoming blurs as I ran, that I was running at an abnormal speed.

I stopped by a river, smelling the water and forest rather than humans, and cleared my head. However exciting being a vampire seemed, I was still doomed to walk the earth alone, causing pain to whoever crossed my path. I sighed heavily, even though just breathing was unnecessary now, and looked into the slow moving water.

What I saw made me jump up and stand in a protective stance automatically. The face staring back at me was still mine, the same nose, ears, mouth and hair but my eyes were no longer the colour of the summer sky. Instead they were now a piercing red colour, brighter than any I had seen before.

I looked back into the river, into my eyes.

The eyes of a monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all who have left Kudo's here, it's very much appreciated!
> 
> Here's the second chapter; Carlisle waking up. It was shorter, but the next one's longer.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> NinaKing


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**"A suicide kills two people, Maggie, that's what it's for!"**

**Arthur Miller**

 

** Carlisle **

It took me a few days to fully accept that there was no way I could turn back the pages of time and relive the last week, to change it so I didn't become the monster sitting among the rocks within the forest near the town I had grown up in.

After acceptance, came the depression. I had never been depressed before, it was a feeling I hoped to never encounter again. The emotion pushed down on me, making me feel heavier than before, making every step I took feel like a thousand tons. 

I accepted what had happened to me, and the fact that I could never see my father again, or even encounter another human again, but what I couldn't accept was being a monster. The thought of draining a human being of their entire life simply so I could be satisfied for a little while made my stomach turn.

The only way out of a monstrous life was to end it.

First I tried to drown myself in a pond I found hidden deep in the woods. It was deep enough that, when I stood under the water, my head was still covered. I held my breath for three hours and fifty-eight minutes; obviously vampires didn't need to breathe to survive. If they did my heart would still be beating, but as it wasn't and no oxygen was needed, breathing was irrelevant to a vampires survival.

Secondly I tried jumping off a cliff I found near the ocean, about one hundred miles away from where I was turned. As I stood on the edge, I knew that if I was granted my wish, if I died on impact at the bottom, then no blood would be spilled on my part. I was all too eager to end my existence, to rid myself of the flames licking the inside of my throat. With that in mind and the waves breaking against the rocks just below my feet, I jumped.

As the wind sailed through my hair and I fell down the cliff, watching the ground below come closer, I began to think that my existence would really end at the bottom.

My final jump.

Disappointment flooded me once I landed on the bottom, standing, with a light thud. Drowning and jumping off a cliff were ruled out. I hadn't tried stabbing myself but getting a knife would require me to go back home, to where the humans thought I was dead, and I was pretty sure something as simple as a weapon wouldn't damage my rock like skin anyway.

That was yesterday, and today I have come up with a completely new idea of how to kill myself.

It was simple; all I was required to do was sit inside this cave, far away from human contact and allow my thirst to take me away from this damned life. It has been exactly a month since my change, I hadn’t drunk anything at all, and although the thirst was killing me from the inside, on the outside I was proud. Families were still intact and no humans had died at my hands, no matter how tempting their blood was to my thoughts and fantasies of me killing them and draining them of their blood.

Fantasizing about drinking human blood was such an enjoyment while it was happening but afterwards all I felt was guilt. Humans, even the fictional ones in my mind, had hopes and dreams, fears and troubles, lives to live and each and every one of them had a right to experience it.

Who was I to take away a life that was not mine to take?

The fire in my throat burned harder, making me hit the wall in frustration. I had seen my reflection in the river once more; my eyes were as dark as the midnight sky and twice as threatening.

Death could take me whenever, I would go willingly.

The rain poured down heavily, but the cave protected me from the drops. The world around me was silent, only the dripping of rain invaded my ears. I took one daring breath, keeping my eyes firmly closed.

A beautiful scent filled my nostrils, not as sweet smelling as the one I had first encountered, but still enough to make the fire in my throat roar. I imagined myself standing, allowing the scent to pull me towards it. I could see my hands landing on the creature, my teeth cutting through muscle, tendons and bones as though they were butter. I could almost taste the blood. 

It was only when the fire in my throat dulled and I heard a carcass fall to the ground that I realised I hadn't been imagining it at all, I had been doing this. I opened my eyes slowly, ready to face the empty expression of the life I had just destroyed, the family I had torn apart, when I saw nothing more than a dead deer's empty eyes staring lifelessly into the distance. I hadn't killed a human at all.

Leaving the carcass on the floor I raced back towards the river, a place I usually sat to ponder my thoughts when nothing was around. I looked into the clear water, my eyes were no longer black but were now a yellowy colour, a few more years of this diet would surely turn them golden, almost the colour of my hair.

 There was another way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick thank you to everyone who's viewing this and leaving Kudos, comments or both! 
> 
> Thank you for reading, too.
> 
> NinaKing


	4. Chaper Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**"A suicide kills two people, Maggie, that's what it's for!"**

**Arthur Miller**

 

** Carlisle **

It took me a few days to fully accept that there was no way I could turn back the pages of time and relive the last week, to change it so I didn't become the monster sitting among the rocks within the forest near the town I had grown up in.

After acceptance, came the depression. I had never been depressed before, it was a feeling I hoped to never encounter again. The emotion pushed down on me, making me feel heavier than before, making every step I took feel like a thousand tons.

I accepted what had happened to me, and the fact that I could never see my father again, or even encounter another human again, but what I couldn't accept was being a monster. The thought of draining a human being of their entire life simply so I could be satisfied for a little while made my stomach turn.

The only way out of a monstrous life was to end it.

First I tried to drown myself in a pond I found hidden deep in the woods. It was deep enough that, when I stood under the water, my head was still covered. I held my breath for three hours and fifty-eight minutes; obviously vampires didn't need to breathe to survive. If they did my heart would still be beating, but as it wasn't and no oxygen was needed, breathing was irrelevant to a vampires survival.

Secondly I tried jumping off a cliff I found near the ocean, about one hundred miles away from where I was turned. As I stood on the edge, I knew that if I was granted my wish, if I died on impact at the bottom, then no blood would be spilled on my part. I was all too eager to end my existence, to rid myself of the flames licking the inside of my throat. With that in mind and the waves breaking against the rocks just below my feet, I jumped.

As the wind sailed through my hair and I fell down the cliff, watching the ground below come closer, I began to think that my existence would really end at the bottom. 

My final jump.

Disappointment flooded me once I landed on the bottom, standing, with a light thud. Drowning and jumping off a cliff were ruled out. I hadn't tried stabbing myself but getting a knife would require me to go back home, to where the humans thought I was dead, and I was pretty sure something as simple as a weapon wouldn't damage my rock like skin anyway.

That was yesterday, and today I have come up with a completely new idea of how to kill myself.

It was simple; all I was required to do was sit inside this cave, far away from human contact and allow my thirst to take me away from this damned life. It has been exactly a month since my change, I hadn’t drunk anything at all, and although the thirst was killing me from the inside, on the outside I was proud. Families were still intact and no humans had died at my hands, no matter how tempting their blood was to my thoughts and fantasies of me killing them and draining them of their blood.

Fantasizing about drinking human blood was such an enjoyment while it was happening but afterwards all I felt was guilt. Humans, even the fictional ones in my mind, had hopes and dreams, fears and troubles, lives to live and each and every one of them had a right to experience it.

Who was I to take away a life that was not mine to take?

The fire in my throat burned harder, making me hit the wall in frustration. I had seen my reflection in the river once more; my eyes were as dark as the midnight sky and twice as threatening.

Death could take me whenever, I would go willingly.

The rain poured down heavily, but the cave protected me from the drops. The world around me was silent, only the dripping of rain invaded my ears. I took one daring breath, keeping my eyes firmly closed. 

A beautiful scent filled my nostrils, not as sweet smelling as the one I had first encountered, but still enough to make the fire in my throat roar. I imagined myself standing, allowing the scent to pull me towards it. I could see my hands landing on the creature, my teeth cutting through muscle, tendons and bones as though they were butter. I could almost taste the blood.

It was only when the fire in my throat dulled and I heard a carcass fall to the ground that I realised I hadn't been imagining it at all, I had been doing this. I opened my eyes slowly, ready to face the empty expression of the life I had just destroyed, the family I had torn apart, when I saw nothing more than a dead deer's empty eyes staring lifelessly into the distance. I hadn't killed a human at all.

Leaving the carcass on the floor I raced back towards the river, a place I usually sat to ponder my thoughts when nothing was around. I looked into the clear water, my eyes were no longer black but were now a yellowy colour, a few more years of this diet would surely turn them golden, almost the colour of my hair.

There was another way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone reading!
> 
> NinaKing.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**"Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study. Be a student as long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life."**

**Henry L. Doherty**

 

 **Carlisle**  

I found my place in Italy soon enough. It was a place full of rich culture and knowledge. There was so much to be learned from just wandering the city streets at night. I travelled through Italy, better myself in knowledge and wound up in Volterra, one of the most beautiful cities I had ever visited. It was a calm and historical place, with so many beautiful features, even if I could only experience them at night 

One night I had been sitting by the large fountain in the middle of the Clock tower square, writing down some new things I had learned about medicine from visiting the hospital, and some things I had learned about Volterra on a pocket sized notebook when a small voice interrupted me.

I looked up to see a little girl, dressed in a olive green dress with white sleeves and a short black cloak billowing behind her slightly in the night wind, her blonde hair was pulled into a tight bun on the back of her head and her face was cold. I would have thought she was a local girl, had her skin not have been as white as snow and her eyes as red as the roses that framed the courtyard.

"My name is Jane," The stern voice that came from her full lips did not suit her sweet face. "You must come with me."

I raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking for more information 

"Human, or vampire?" She asked. "Your eyes are not like a vampire but you have no heartbeat or human scent, lucky too or you'd be dinner."

"Where would I be following you to?"

Jane's face stiffened slightly, an obvious sign that she wasn't used to being questioned. "My masters, The Volturi. I shall tell you more when we are inside."

I placed the notepad inside my pocket and followed the girl across the square into the clock tower building. She led me down the halls to a staircase. After descending it, we were in a long hallway, decorated with the best arts and artifacts. Jane pushed open the large door at the end of the hall, leading me into an open room. It was marble all over with a small platform where three wise looking men sat on thrones. Other vampires were scattered around the room. Jane left me standing in front of the three men and went to stand next to a boy who looked her age.

"Who is this, you've brought, sister dear?" The boy inquired.

"Just someone I thought Aro would like to meet, Alec." She replied.

One of the men, who sat in the throne furthest forward, stepped down and stood in front of me. He clasped his hands in the way an excited child would, his ruby eyes gleaming as he smiled.

"Extraordinary," He breathed. "You're clearly a vampire but you have eyes I have never seen before. What is your name?"

"Carlisle Cullen." I replied, suspiciously watching the strange man.

"What makes your eyes the colour of toffee, Carlisle?" He asked.

"Aro, must we bother ourselves with this?" The man with long blonde hair asked.

"Please Caius; it is my thirst for knowledge." Aro smiled kindly at me.

"I don't have the normal vampire diet, I don't feed from humans."

"What do you feed from then?"

"Animals."

A few of the vampires chuckled before Aro silenced them. "Amazing, and this animal diet makes your eyes that colour?" He reached for my hand. "May I? I have the gift of tactile telepathy you see." 

I allowed him to take my hand in his and watched as he closed his eyes, the marveled expression still on his face. Once he released my hand his grin widened. "Studying medicine, but how do you control the bloodlust?"

"Years of practice." I replied, giving him a small smile.

"You must join us," Aro exclaimed. "Become a member of our coven, though you have no special abilities you've had so much experience from the world around you, and I wish to know more about this animal diet you have."

It was months later, nearly a year into my life with the Volturi, when I witnessed why they were feared and made me wonder more why no covens had mentioned them to me. I was standing with Aro the balcony of the clock tower; we had grown quite fond of each other and became good friends, when Caius came to stand out with us, his face grim.

I had learned from experience that Aro was a loyal person, he was intelligent and enjoyed the simple things in life. Marcus had a different outlook on life, his opinions, though mostly optimistic, were covered with a slight gloom I couldn't fathom. Caius was a very sadistic person, he enjoyed others pain and whenever he brought news, it was always bad.

Jane was to be avoided when she had a tantrum and Alec was the only one able to calm her down properly. Felix was one who enjoyed a laugh, and certainly someone who could brighten your day.

"Felix and Demetri brought you the traitor." Caius said simply, before turning and leaving.

"The hardest thing about this life," Aro sighed sadly. "Is that rule breakers must be punished."

"There must always be someone to enforce that though." I reminded him. 

"That is true, dear friend," He nodded. "Shall we?"

I nodded and followed Aro through into the main hallway. Caius and Marcus were sitting on their thrones already, Marcus wore his usual bored expression as he stared mindlessly at the ceiling, where I knew he was staring out of the glass windows that patterned the marble there. Caius was sitting straight, his red eyes focused on the scene in front of him.

The rest of the guard were somewhere else. Only Felix, Demetri, Alec and Jane stood in the main room. Felix and Demetri were on either side of a weary looking vampire, holding him so he couldn't escape, even if he tried his hardest. Alec was standing by the back door, his eyes glancing from the vampire and the doors every so often, possibly contemplating the vampires chances of escaping and his chances of stopping it. Jane stood in front of the vampire, to the side a little, leaving room for Aro to do what he felt he was a part of his "duty". I stood next to Aro's throne as he slipped his black robe over his clothes and stood in front of the frightened vampire.

"Please!" The vampire begged, his long hair falling in his eyes. "I didn't mean to. Please don't! I have a mate!"

"There are no exceptions for those who break the rules." Jane said clearly, something I had heard she enjoyed quoting in these moments. Jane seemed like a very sadistic child to many people, more so than her brother, but I felt that somewhere deep, deep inside of her, beyond her sadistic tendencies, she was really just a confused child who didn't know better than what she was created to do. 

Aro said nothing, but I knew he was smiling as his hands clamped around the vampires neck. He might be able to say that doing things such as these wasn't something he enjoyed, and no one would dare question it, but the small smiles and sometimes full blown grins gave him away. Aro beheaded the vampire at the same time Felix and Demetri pulled each of his arms out. I looked away, not wanting to witness what was happening, but that didn't stop me hearing the small scream before it was stopped.

"Burn the pieces." Aro said coldly.

As much as being a part of a coven made me feel accepted, I didn't understand their ways of justice. I knew what the rules were and wouldn't disobey them, but that didn't mean I should want to witness justice being served.

Everyone makes mistakes, but with the Volturi, your first mistake could be your last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, everyone!
> 
> NinaKing


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**"This is the time to remember because it will not last forever; these are the days to hold onto because we won't although we want to."**

**Billy Joel**

 

** Carlisle **

I sighed almost silently and turned my head to the side, to stare at the tapestry on the wall.

It was times like these when I regretted joining the Volturi and becoming a part of their coven. When you could hear the vicious growls of the Guard, and sometimes even the leaders, throughout the spacious room. When you could hear the helpless screams of the humans before they died, not like anything could help them once the large wooden doors had closed. And on the rare occasion when you could hear a single drop of blood fall to the floor, echoing inside your mind.

I wore the Volturi crest around my neck, just like every other member of the coven, but I never felt less like one of them than at dinner time. They fed once every three days, they'd bring humans in to "show them the artifacts" and would feed on them when the sound of their hearts beating became too much. 

Heidi was in charge of "fishing" with her good looks she was stunning, even for a vampire, and she used these looks to her advantage, luring in unsuspecting humans to their dooms. It was mostly large men she brought down here, the larger the human the bigger the heart and the more blood.

"Would you like to join us, friend?" Aro asked, standing in the midst of all the ciaos. Some humans were left, huddled in the corner like cattle by Jane and Alec. Aro's eyes were a brighter red now and he looked satisfied.

I politely shook my head, though I didn't agree with Aro and the way normal vampires fed, I didn't want to be on Aro's bad side. "No thank you, Aro." Even if the human's heart beats longed for me to satisfy the beast with in, although I could see the human's pulses, beating under their paper thin skin, I had long since learned to ignore the call of human blood.

"I do wish you'd get over this phase already, Carlisle." He responded, gesturing towards the humans. "It's who you are to drink human blood. Satisfying your thirst with animals will not seem appealing to you forever. 

Aro had once requested that I take him with me hunting. I took him into the small forest surrounding Volterra and he caught an elk. Whilst walking home, his eyes slightly more orange than red, he had confided in me that elk blood wasn't as sweet as a humans. That was five years in the past, and Aro hadn't fed off animals since 

"This is your way of life, Aro. Not mine." I answered, standing and walking towards Aro. "This is my lifestyle, it's what I choose to do. I do not want to become a murderer, my apologies." The Volturi leader nodded, respecting my choice, and I left, heading towards my room.

Dinner time was over and the guard had scattered around the castle. I passed Jane's room, a place I had never entered and didn't plan on going into in the future, she was standing by her bed, her eyes focused on the open window opposite her. Slowing down my pace slightly I noticed she was smiling sadistically as a bird came in through her window and fell to the floor, withering in pain.

I didn’t dwell on thoughts of what Jane was doing in her room; yes, it was inhumane and… sadistic, but those were the two words that described the smallest member of the guard perfectly. 

My room was reasonably sized, a desk in front of the wide windows and bookcases stretching around the room, I had no bed, for I had no use for it but the space that would have been taken by that was replaced with globes, maps, medical skeletons… Knowledge was power to Aro, and he aided my studies well.

I tried to lose myself in one of the novels I enjoyed reading, but my thoughts kept creeping back to the screams of the humans and the smell of their blood. I could always leave the room when it happened, but I could still hear the horror and knew it was still happening, the coven I was a part of being the cause of the pain.

They tried in vain to convert me away from my "natural food source", as I tried to convert them but neither of us were willing to change what we'd done all our vampire lives.

"Carlisle, dear friend, can we talk?" Aro asked from the door that had crept open seconds ago.

"Of course, Aro." I replied, closing my book and standing as he closed the door. 

Aro walked closer to me. "I can tell you're not happy here."

"It isn't that." I told him honestly. "I appreciate all you've done for me, and I've enjoyed your company very much it's just…"

"Your diet." He answered for me. "It's alright; I know you want to leave because it causes pain for you to be here when we feed. Just remember Carlisle that you are welcome here any time you wish to return."

"Thank you." I replied. "You, Caius and Marcus have been good company over the years."

"As have you, dear friend." Aro smiled. "As have you. Perhaps we'll meet again someday, until then good luck with your life."

Aro turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. I sighed; it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from me. Although I had enjoyed being in the Volturi coven, and the times I had enjoyed with them, I couldn't stay with a coven who killed humans not only for food, but for fun.

My time with the Volturi had been enjoyable for the most part; I had learned a lot and found a great companion in Aro, a friend I was sure I would know my entire existence. But their food source wasn’t the only reason I was moving on to the New World.

Over the course of the last year I had been witnessing more and more of the Volturi’s power and hold over the rest of our kind. There had been a rise in executions and there was one specific reason for that: The Immortal Children.

 _We had travelled to Autoire in France, news of a betrayal had spread to the Volturi a month before and we’d gathered most of the guard to deal with the incident._

_Aro didn’t usually ask me to come along to executions (he knew my abhorrence for taking other lives) but he’d insisted this time and as we stood in a line, dark cloaks blowing in the slight breeze before this traitor, I could understand why._

_The woman before was almost shaking in fear of what was to come. Her mate was now part of the burning pyre in front of her, her red eyes darting anxiously from side to side._

_Originally I did not see what could have brought on such an onslaught; Aro had brought his high-ranking guard along with him but the mate hadn’t been a struggle to over-power._

_“Please, please, do not do this,” The woman begged, clutching at the bundle of rags in her arms. The way her eyes didn’t even stray to the pyre but instead flittered down to the bundle in her arms told me she wasn’t begging for the life of herself, or the desperation for the loss of her mate, but she was begging for the life of whatever was in her arms._

_Aro’s eyes glinted maliciously, something I’d see them do often on these occasions, and his hands clasped together. “My dear, I wish that I could offer you the solace of another chance, but what you have done is inexcusable.”_

_He looked to Jane and Alec, nodding, and, in a matter of seconds, the bundle from her arms had been taken. The screams from this young vampire echoed through the village, as she fought against Alec’s powers while Jane brought the bundle back to Aro._

_“Thank you, my dear,” Aro said, before pulling a slight face at what Jane was holding out. He waved his fingers in my direction, “Carlisle, could you hold onto this, while we handle… this?”_

_Jane brought the bundle to me, holding it out and I reached for it automatically; my curiosity getting the better of me. As the rags fell away, I was faced with the most angelic child I’d ever laid eyes on._

_Her wide red eyes were set in a pale face, with full pink lips stained red with dried blood. She had soft brown hair that settled on her shoulders and looked to be no more than three years of age; the chubbiness of her cheeks gave away her infancy._

_Initially, I stared at her with a shocked expression. How was this young girl a vampire? She was still toddler age… how could someone bite this innocent baby and turn her into the monster that we were?_

_Her plump little lips pulled into the most beautiful little smile I’d ever seen and I couldn’t resist a small smile back at her, but I wouldn’t allow myself to be too drawn in by this child; if her coven were being destroyed, the future would be bleak for this one._

Strangely enough Aro hadn’t ordered the destruction of her immediately. Instead, we brought her back to Volterra with us.

The possibilities and new things that could be learned from her were fascinating to Aro, so much so that he couldn’t have Felix and Demetri destroy her.

He named her Carina, seeing as we destroyed her coven before learning what they called her and the child spoke only short French phrases when we found her. Carina was Italian for ‘little darling’, which, according to Aro, ‘suited her beautifully.’

Truthfully the name was fitting; Carina could be the sweetest little girl in the world when her mood suited her. She laughed deliciously and played with the toys Aro had ordered to be brought in for her, although she tended to break most of her things. But when she had a temper tantrum, there was nothing that could stop her wrath. She threw things, broke the grand staircase and smashed numerous portraits. Often she got herself in such a state that not even Felix could restrain her.

It was the last straw for Aro when she tore the arm off his throne when he denied her another human for her to drink. 

It was decided that The Immortal Children were too young to understand the basic rules of our existence; they were wildly unpredictable, they could not be taught and were frozen at whatever state of development they were bitten at.

Carina was destroyed, along with any other Immortal Children that had been in existence, and they became taboo. A rule was made against creating them; an act, which was now punishable by death, and the Volturi did not mention them again.

The destruction of The Immortal Children did not tribute to my leaving; life with the Volturi, a life of destruction and feeding on humans, was not for me. Especially when I had Aro asking me if I was ever to stray from my Vegetarianism.

Perhaps one day I would find another vegetarian coven, or make one of my own, until that day, or even if it never came, I would be fine. I had learned all I could from the Volturi and felt ready to set into the new world, to help people and to fulfill my purpose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm updating these chapters rather quickly, and I'm quite pleased with that. I hope you guys are too! I appreciate all of you readers, your comments and your kudos!
> 
> NinaKing


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**"It's true that we don't know what we've got until we've lost it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives."**

**Unknown**

 

_Date: 16th January 1911._

** Esme Anne Platt **

Climbing trees wasn't exactly considered "ladylike", then again, according to my parents; nothing I did was very ladylike.

Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, as the only daughter of a couple of farmers wasn't that hard, not much was expected from you apart from hard work and respect for those with "higher class jobs" but when your grandfather fought in the wars and came home to be hailed a hero, a little more was expected of you. My brothers Richard, who was two years older than me, and Anthony, who was four years older than me, helped my parents out as much as they could around the farm but somehow, making ends meet was still hard.

Richard was courting Charlotte, the milkman's daughter, and was planning on proposing to her soon. I liked Charlotte; she was sweet and pretty, with long brown hair and dark brown eyes, she also enjoyed reading as much as I so we always had very animated discussions when she came round to visit my brother. Whenever mother and father didn't need help with the animals or crops, you could find me with Charlotte every time. 

Anthony was already married to Lucille, his former girlfriend of the past three years, and the two of them lived in town, about a ten-minute car ride from our small farm on the outskirts of town. They had a son together called Matthew; he was about a year old now and simply adorable, with curly brown locks and big blue eyes.

My brother's success with their families is what put such intense pressure on me. My mother was always trying to persuade me to go out with some of the boys in the city, mainly because they came from well-respected and wealthy backgrounds and seemed to show an interest in me. Romance was the last thing on my mind currently; I longed to be intelligent enough to go to College and become a teacher one day.

"I want to marry for love not money!" I had told her once, after she had tried to set me up with yet another banker's son. 

"There's no such thing these days, you'll marry who we say you'll marry, and I'll not hear another word on the subject!" She had scolded me, her back turned as she worked on dinner for my father. 

Something in my silence must have softened her, though, because she turned to me and gave me a hug. “You’ll learn to love whoever you marry, Esme.” 

Now as I stared at the Oak tree that stood broadly in one of the fields surrounding our home, I wondered why I hadn't climbed it sooner. Not only would it be a great place for me to read, not to mention being a great sightseeing place, but it would also annoy my mother and that was always a bonus.

I hitched up my skirts and placed my foot in one of the groves in the bark. Letting go of the silk fabric I climbed higher into the tree, using the branches to hoist myself up. I heard Richard calling me in the distance but I didn't stop, with the book between my teeth, I was nearly at the branch I wanted to sit upon. 

"Esme, where are you?" So Richard had Charlotte with him, and she was looking for me as well.

As soon as I was sitting on the branch, swinging my legs as a light breeze fluttered through my caramel coloured hair, I could see nearly our entire farm. My brother Anthony was ploughing the field opposite, my father was feeding the pigs, and my mother and Lucille were out hanging washing while little Matthew sat on the porch in my sleeping grandfathers arms. 

Just as I opened my favourite book, Jane Eyre, to the part where Jane gets locked in the room in which her uncle died, and panics after having visions of him, I heard Richard's confident voice from the gate that led into the field.

"She's over here, Charlotte!" He called, running through the field towards the tree. Stopping at the trunk of the tree, he cupped his hands around his mouth to holler up at me, "Esme, get down you could fall!"

Charlotte was by his side shortly, her long gloves falling down her arms and her hat nearly hanging off her head from running. "He's right Esme, you don't want to fall!"

"That's not really part of my plan!" I called down, not taking my eyes off the page. "I just want some peace and quiet, you know, to read!" I was hoping they'd get the hint. 

"Either you get down, or I'll come up and get you." Richard threatened. 

I looked down from my page, my eyes zooming in and out slightly as I realised the height I was at. Richard was beginning to try and find a way to climb up, and I didn’t doubt he’d drag me kicking and screaming down if he had to. Sighing, I placed my book under my arm and started to climb down. There were plenty of other places to read, the barn for example, where my brother and his girlfriend would not disturb me. 

Standing up on the branch I finally realised just exactly how high I’d climbed up for reading. Heeding my brothers warning about falling, I tried to regain my balance before taking a weary step. Everything was going quite well until I accidentally stepped on an obviously weaker bit of the branch.

Falling through the air would have been fun, feeling the wind whistling through my hair, before I landed hard in the field. After hitting my head and letting it fall to the side I saw the branch I had moments ago been standing on, a few steps away from me, so the sickening snap hadn't been from the bark. It had been from me.

 

** Carlisle **

It had been a slow day at the hospital; only a few cuts, grazes, and check-ups throughout the day. I had been happier than before now that I had my medical degree and could finally help people without too much temptation being placed in my way. I wasn't ready to preform surgeries yet though, that would be pushing the limit of how much blood I could smell before going crazy.

“Dr. Cullen?” Amanda, the receptionist, said as she placed a gentle knock to the open door to my office.

I looked up from the medical journal placed on my desk and gave her a smile, “Yes?”

She took a hesitant step into the room, clasping her hands together. I could hear her heartbeat pick up slightly as she spoke again, “I know you’re not working with minor injuries at the moment, but we’ve just had a young girl come in with a suspected broken leg. Her family are under Doctor Melrose’s care but he’s in surgery at the moment and asked if you could care for her.”

"I'd be more than happy to." I smiled, getting up and following Amanda towards the waiting lobby. 

I'd expected to see a small child, maybe a girl of about seven or eight years of age, not the young woman who stood in front of me, supported by a young man and a young woman. Miss Platt had the same soft features and kind face, even when grimacing in pain, as…

I cleared my head and took the young woman's place in supporting Miss Platt. After we were all in the private ward, Miss Platt seated on the bed and the two who had brought her in were sitting in chairs opposite the room, I got my chart out and started with the procedure.

"Hello, Miss Platt," I smiled gently at her. "My name is Doctor Cullen, and I will be looking after you today. Now I understand you had a bit of a misunderstanding with a tree."

"It would certainly seem that way, Doctor Cullen," She replied in a small voice. She grimaced slightly and clutched at her leg; a couple of dimples on her cheeks winked at me as she looked down.

I took out a needle and a vial of local anaesthetic, preparing the injection for her, to hopefully ease the pain she was in. “This should help with that,” I told her gently, administering the injection.

I watched in silent humour as her cheeks flushed from my touch, causing her cream skin to glow slightly.

"Will she be alright, Doc?" The young man asked me. "My mother will kill me if I don't get her home in one piece."

"I can guarantee now, Richard that I will be going home in one piece," She smiled slightly at him. “I don’t want to face mother if I’m not in peak physical condition.”

"Well, Charlotte and I will be in the lobby. We don't want to make this an anymore painful experience for you." He said as he and the other young woman left the room.

"May I?" I asked, indicating that I needed to lift her skirt up a bit to examine her leg better. After receiving a nod from her I saw that she had taken quiet the tumble. Not wanting to scare her though, I kept the subject away from her accident. "Are they your siblings?"

"That was my brother, Richard. The girl, Charlotte, is his girlfriend. She feels like a sister to me though, and she's the closest I'm going to get to one, unless there's something my parents aren’t telling me,” Even in pain she managed to crack a joke. "Do you have siblings, Doctor Cullen?"

"No, unfortunately it's just me. I don't mind though, it's never really been anything I've been concerned about," I replied, my cold fingers moving swiftly around her warm leg, trying to make sure the news I had to give her was one hundred percent necessary. "I'm sorry, Miss Platt but I'm going to have to reset the bone. It will heal better that way."

"It's quiet alright, Doctor Cullen. I thought for a moment you were going to tell me you had to amputate," She laughed quietly before turning her grey coloured orbs onto me. "And please, call me Esme."

Esme. A beautiful name.

“Well, if we’re going on first name basis, I must insist that you call me Carlisle,” I replied, gently moving her to lie own on the bed and adjusting her leg slightly so it would be in a better position to reset the bone. “Dr. Cullen is too formal.”

I reset the bone as quickly as I could, not wanting to cause any pain that wasn't needed. She didn't make a noise, but her eyes watered slightly. I handed her my handkerchief to dry her tears on, not that I needed it, but it kept up human appearances. 

“We’ll need to plaster your leg up and keep you in over-night for observation, but after that you should be alright to go home,” I told her, as I wrote down what I was saying on her patient notes. “You’ll be able to get plenty of rest here, and we can make sure your leg kicks off the healing process properly.”

“Okay,” she replied quietly, accepting my hand to help her sit up again. Her cheeks flushed again and I was forced to conceal my smirk at the effect my touch had on her. “Thank you, Carlisle. For your help today; I know it’s your job, but it isn’t often that you find a doctor as kind as he is handsome.”

I smiled at her for the flattery, from what I could already tell she was a very cheeky person but in all the right ways. After she was wheeled away to get her leg plastered by the nurses, I realised she still had my handkerchief clutched in her delicate fingers. The thought made me chuckle as I signed off her notes for today and went to gather my things from the office.

On my way out of the hospital, I bumped into Dr. Paul Melrose, who shook my hand in thanks for covering him today. “Thank you, Carlisle. I had a patient who haemorrhaged on the table and I know how inpatient Mrs. Platt can become.”

“Mrs. Platt wasn’t present today,” I replied, easily. “It was her daughter, Esme.”

He nodded understandably, “Ah, Esme. Lovely young girl, very good head on her shoulders, but her parents don’t seem to realise how intelligent she is,” he looked like he wanted to continue along that note but instead shook his head, “Seeing as you understand Esme’s condition at present, would you take her on as a patient of yours? Nurse Chance mentioned she’s been checked in over-night.”

“I’d be delighted to, she’s no trouble.” I said, giving him a smile as we bid our goodbyes and I left the hospital at last.

Esme Platt was certainly going to be an interesting patient to have. In any case, my days while she was under my care were going to be interesting, I could tell already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully the pace is going to pick up slightly now. We've explored Carlisle's past a bit now so now it's time to introduce teenage Esme!
> 
> I hope you're all enjoying reading this as much as I am writing this.
> 
> Thank you all,
> 
> NinaKing.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**"In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."**

**Theodore Roosevelt**

 

** Carlisle **

I worked through the next few days easily, working was something I enjoyed, and it wasn't like I had anyone to go home to. It pained me to know that every time I went home to an empty house, to hear my footsteps echo off the floorboards or the clock ticking, and I was supposed to be resting, that lives were at stake. I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to, and I often forgot that and worked constantly. If I could, I would work at the hospital as much as I could, saving as many lives as possible, but if I did that the other doctors would become suspicious. 

They’d become very suspicious in the days after Esme Platt had been checked into her ward. Her leg hadn’t been healing as quickly as I’d hoped it would, so she was spending a couple of extra days in the hospital. 

Something, which came as a surprise to me, was that, in the days she’d been here, her parents hadn’t come to visit her once. She had a couple of visits from her brothers and their significant others, even her Grandfather had visited for a couple of hours, but I’d not seen anything of Mr. and Mrs. Platt.

It didn’t seem to bother Esme much that her parents didn’t come to see her. However, it made me feel bad that her parents didn’t come and see her. Instead, I tried taking her mind off it as much as possible; whenever I had a spare moment, I’d pop in and spend some time with her.

“What’s on the agenda to be read today, Esme?” I asked as I sat down in the seat next to her bed.

She brushed her caramel coloured hair back over her shoulder and smiled down at the books, before bringing her grey-eyed gaze to my face. “I’ve finished Jane Eyre now, so I’m looking for something else to read.”

I smiled back at her, “I’d make a couple of suggestions to you, but I’m afraid most of my choices are either in Latin, or Russian.”

“Russian?” 

“I’m trying to teach myself Russian at present, and I find the best way for me to learn it is to read in it,” I replied. “It’s a strange way, I know.”

Esme shook her head, sending a wave of her scent my way. She smelled like an intoxicating mix of lily’s and vanilla, but instead of making my mouth flood with venom as I’d always thought it should, it made me smile. “It’s not strange, if that’s the way that you learn, that’s the way you learn. I think it’s brilliant that you’re teaching yourself new languages… I’ve always wanted to better myself through education.”

“You appear to be a very educated young woman, Esme.” I told her truthfully. 

There was a soft rush of pink colour to her cream cheeks; roses and cream against her face, “Thank you, Carlisle,” she murmured, before continuing, “I want to go to college, though, and become a teacher one day.”

“What a wonderful profession to wish to go into,” I said to her with a smile, “Is there a specific age you wish to work with?”

“The infant classes; I’ve always been good with children and babies,” she said, “I spend a lot of time with my nephew, Matthew, and I’m trying to help him with his speaking. He’s as stubborn as a mule, though.”

I chuckled alongside her, “Your nephew is lucky to have you with him, Esme. I’m sure you’ll make a wonderful teacher one day.”

Esme and I had enjoyed animated conversations through most of the evening, almost late into the night, until I noticed her stifling yawns and her eyes becoming heavier as she tried to force herself to stay awake. I urged her to get some rest and, as much as she resisted sleep stating she wanted to stay up and talk, I eventually managed to get her to settle down. I left as her breathing evened out and she started to mumble softly in her sleep.

She was discharged the next day and I had the pleasure of meeting the people who couldn’t bring themselves to come and check up on their injured daughter. I was perfectly polite to them as they thanked me and her father shook my hand, but inside I was less than pleased to be meeting them.

“Your leg may be a little bit weak when you first get the cast off,” I told Esme, as she steadied herself on the crutches we’d given her to use, “But make sure you persevere with your walking to get your muscles back to strength. I’ve got you an appointment for you to come back in two weeks for your check-up.”

“Thank you, Carlisle.” She said, taking the slip of paper with her appointment time on it from me.

“Esme that is not the correct way to address a Doctor!” Her mother hissed quietly at her; most likely thinking I couldn’t hear the sharpness in her voice.

Instead of speaking to her mother, I smiled at Esme and shook her hand gently. “My pleasure, Esme. Try not to fall out of anymore trees, okay?” 

She laughed softly, as her parents started to lead her out of the hospital, and I returned to my other patients.

Since she’d been discharged, I’d been working non-stop to try and keep my mind off thoughts of Esme. She’d been the most charming, intelligent human woman I’d had the pleasure of a conversation with. I’d been working hard to keep my thoughts off how alone I felt in my world of vegetarianism. But I’d been working so much that the other Doctors were growing concerned.

"Doctor Cullen, you've been working forty eight hours nonstop, go home and rest." Doctor Morgan, a Doctor whose office was fairly close to mine and I passed break hours chatting politely with, told me and I realised he was right. 

Ever since Esme had gone home I hadn't been thinking entirely straight. I’d been too focused on thinking what a brilliant companion she would have been, or how much any companionship would be good to have. I hadn’t been focused, at all, on keeping up appearances. It’d been a while since I’d hunted, too. 

"I'll get some rest soon." I muttered in reply, signing Mr. Patterson's discharge papers.

"Make sure you do." He said sternly, looking at me from behind his glasses. Doctor Morgan was one of the older doctors who worked at Columbus Memorial, he was kind and supportive and very, very wise. His brown hair was flecked with grey and he had confided in me that he had started working here at the age of thirty, twenty years in the past, and had never met a Doctor as young as I. That had made me chuckle, seeing as I was older than his grandfather.

After Mr. Patterson had been discharged after his arm surgery and I had finished my rounds I had no choice but to leave the hospital and give the humans the illusion that I was resting. 

Once making it home, the walls around me seemed to echo with loneliness. I couldn't recall the last time my house had felt so big, sure it wouldn't be counted as large for a human family, but for one person it was plenty of room to relax in, and feel lonely in. 

Solitude was sometimes a good thing, it gave me a chance to think and to contemplate everything that had happened during the day but it was a curse as much as a blessing. There was sometimes when I regretted that, because of who I became two hundred or so years ago, I would never come home to a loving wife and kids. I hadn't thought about children before my change, but now that I would never become a father, even if I wanted it more than anything and sometimes thinking about that stung a bit.

"You could have a loving wife" A voice from the back of my mind told me. "You'd just have to be patient and wait a few years."

I picked a large medical book from the table near the door and slammed it back down loudly, breaking the binding on the book and the legs on the table at the same time. It may have broken some meaningless items, but the voice had vanished from the back of my mind.

"She's sixteen," I told myself, looking at my reflection in the mirror. My hair was messy from where I had been running my hands through it constantly. "She's a child. You cannot have thoughts such of these about a child.”

I had a strange sense of attachment to Esme, in the way that I wanted nothing more for her than a long and happy life. I wanted her to achieve her dreams of becoming a teacher, and settle down one day with a husband and children.

Still, the attachment I felt towards Esme was dangerous. A delicate, sweet child, who had her whole life ahead of her, should have nothing to do with a bloodthirsty vampire. Esme was human, she deserved to live life, to learn, to grow, and I wasn't going to stand in her way.

No, the best thing to do would be to leave. To move away and start again, somewhere new, where I wouldn't be putting Esme's life at risk. I couldn't leave without telling the hospital though, or her.

"First things first, selling the house." I muttered to myself.

Within a few hours, the house was for sale, my resignation was handed in, the hospital thought I'd been offered a job closer to where my family was, and my last day was the day of Esme's appointment.

 

** Four days later. **

I'd had many farewells and cards from my colleges, even if I had only been there a few weeks, they were all lovely people and I enjoyed my time here. I was waiting in the examination room when there was a small knock at the closed door.

"Come in." I said, putting my paperwork to one side and looking up as the door opened.

Esme's kind face lit up in a smile as she closed the door behind her, she was still using the crutches but she seemed to be placing more weight on her leg as she walked. 

I smiled in return. "Please take a seat." I gestured to the hospital bed. 

She sat down, the smile not leaving her face as I checked over her leg. "You know, Carlisle," She began softly. "I don't think I can ever thank you enough for everything you've done for me.

"I'm just doing my job." I replied politely, my cold fingers working quickly. 

"Well, I am ever so thankful. I always will be."

"Esme… I'm afraid I have some bad news," I unnecessarily cleared my throat. "Today is my last day here, I'm moving away. Albany hospital has given me an offer I simply cannot turn down."

"Oh… I-I understand." She mumbled sadly.

After I my examination, I stood up. "Your leg should be fully healed within a few weeks. Try to avoid falling from trees from now on, Esme. It seems they're not very fond of you." I chuckled lightly.

She looked up at me; her sad grey eyes making me melt slightly. "I'll miss you."

“I'll miss you too… Live a long and happy life, Esme." I leant forward and pressed my cold lips to her warm forehead. As I helped her up, I saw a couple of crystal clear tears run down her cheeks. She left the room shortly after, her scent disappearing as the door closed.

 

_ Chicago – Illinois – Seven years later _

 

** Carlisle **

Illinois was a charming place to live. 

I'd begun working at Northwestern Memorial Hospital about three years ago, after I'd settled into my two-bedroom house near the forests surrounding the city. Life returned to normal, just as it was before I'd met Esme, and my life and work continued, just as it had before.

After spending four years in Albany, working through the city hospital as dull fully as I had in the time before I’d met Esme; the days seemed to blend into each other as my routine of working through my shifts, then coming home and bettering myself through education.

I'd gotten used to the normality of it all, I'd work at the hospital from eight until ten, fourteen hours of my time was the least I could give to helping people, then I'd come home and re-read my medical journals, or work on other things, and I was thankful to how it helped me to feel settled and relaxed in this town.

I'd seen a few outbreaks of flu and viruses in my time as a doctor, but I'd never seen an epidemic before, until about two years into my time in Illinois. Spanish Influenza struck at our hospital, people were falling ill and dying left right and center. I began working more than fifteen hours a day, not that it bothered me or that I minded it, because Doctors and Nurses were becoming overworked and were becoming ill themselves. Being immune to the disease, I was more than happy to help out in any way I could.

"Doctor Cullen, Elizabeth Masen in room twenty three needs more medication." Nurse Jackson told me, her voice slightly muffled from the mask she wore. 

I nodded in response and headed towards room twenty-three. Upon arriving I realised that Elizabeth's condition had worsened, she didn't have long left to live. I remembered that her husband had been brought in when the Influenza first hit, he was very weak and didn't last long. Elizabeth had become worse as she tried to nurse her son, Edward Jr, from her own sickbed.

Her son was a few rooms away, his condition was better than his mothers, but I could still tell that he wouldn't last the next few days. It was such a waste. He was a young boy, only seventeen years old, and quite handsome, he had his mother's strange bronze hair and emerald green eyes.

"D-doctor," She croaked, her eyes opening and closing slightly every few minutes, she was drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness. "Save him. Please save my Edward."

"I'll do everything in my power." I promised as I read through her chart.

"No," She replied, breaking off into a cough. I helped her sit up against her pillows, and she grabbed my hand desperately. "You must do everything in your power. What others cannot do, that is what you must do for my Edward."

I was about to ask another question, about to ask how much she knew, when she coughed again and her grip became slack on my hand, she closed her eyes for the final time. She was still breathing, but she wouldn't wake again. This would probably be her final few hours, and I wanted nothing more than to stay by her side, but I'd already been working for about nineteen hours, and the Doctors were becoming suspicious so I had to leave.

On the way home, I began wondering what Elizabeth Masen wanted me to do. No mother would want her child condemned to this life, surely. I wouldn't change the boy out of loneliness, that would be selfish, but his mother asked me to…

No. I had decided long ago that death would have been better for me… But for Edward? 

Was it possible, that this life was what Elizabeth Masen wanted for her son… and if I did change him… that he'd be happy…?


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**“A peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one.”**

**Rita Mae Brown**

 

** Carlisle **

Elizabeth Masen was a dying woman.

She would soon leave the world, if she had not already, and would orphan her only son, though he was close behind her. Elizabeth Masen knows my secret; she knows the creature that I am yet is not repulsed by it. In fact, she wants this life for her son. 

It was unfathomable, for me at least, how a mother could want to damn her son to an eternity of daytime. You never sleep, never dream, you hunt to curve the monster within and, above all, for the first year, and sometimes longer, you desire nothing more than to slaughter innocent humans for their blood.

Elizabeth couldn't want this life for Edward, this mere shell of a life.

Maybe she's scared of death, and doesn't want her own son to follow her into it.

Or maybe, just maybe, she believes that this life could be something for her son. Maybe Edward Jr could follow his dreams, although they could never be the same. Becoming a vampire, one like myself anyway, changed your priorities, you had to think of the people around you and put their needs before your wants.

Edward could reject this life; he could hate me for damning him to an eternity of this. There was a tiny bit of hope inside me though, it clung to the thought that Edward could benefit from this life, he could do good and might even enjoy it.

I pondered my thoughts while walking around the hospital corridors, it was the end of my shift and I was supposed to have gone home a while ago to rest but I couldn't bring myself to leave, my thoughts were causing me to stay.

I stopped outside Elizabeth's room, my hand resting on the smooth wood of the doorframe as I looked through the glass window in the door. Elizabeth had only a few hours left when I'd seen her last, her thin face and matted bronze hair an image forever etched into my mind, but the weak, coughing man lying in the bed once occupied by her confirmed my theory.

Elizabeth was gone and Edward was alone.

"Edward Masen Jr doesn't have long left," A short nurse with blonde curls framing her pale face told me, her voice slightly muffled by the mask covering her mouth. "It's such a shame... such a waste, but he’ll be at peace soon." Although I couldn't see it, her kind eyes showed a small smile towards me before she entered the room to assist the man.

"Yes, a waste." I mumbled, my inner demons fighting for dominance over my choices. 

A couple of doors down Edward Jr lay still in his bed; the only movement made was his shallow breathing and his hand, propped up on his elbow, reaching at nothing. I closed the door behind me, pulling the curtains across so no one would come barging in the room.

Edward's green eyes were dull and glassy as he stared at the ceiling, not looking at anything in particular. He had once been a very handsome young man but now, because the flu had struck and attacked him, his features were lined with sadness, a hollow emptiness in his eyes.

I tried placing myself into his shoes for a moment as I listened to his heartbeat thud uncertainly. I tried to imagine what it must be like for him; to be lying on his deathbed and watching his dreams fall from his grasp.

His fingers twitched and reached towards me. I took his hand hesitantly, my mind already sure of the selfish act I was about to commit. Leaning down I whispered softly to him; just trying to assure him that the pain I was about to bring, I didn't unload onto him without reason. "I'm sorry, son." I squeezed his hand softly, looking at his jugular for a moment. Over two hundred years without savage blood lust, I wouldn't kill him.

My teeth sliced into his neck like a knife through butter, a small drop of the tempting liquid dashed onto my tongue before I pulled back. Putting my sleeve to my mouth and wiping the blood away, I watched as Edward's expression changed and became more pained with each passing second. He started thrashing; trying to rid his body of the poison that was racing through his veins.

I couldn't keep him here, in a matter of moments he would start screaming and eventually people would come running to see what was going on. I had to take him away, get him as far away from the hospital as I could; for his safety and the safety of the people residing in the building. I lifted Edward into my arms easily; I could tell a small scream was building within his throat, so I ran as fast as I could, leaving no trace that I had taken him.

"I'm sorry," I repeated, lying him down on the bed in the smaller room within the house. I had no use for it but it had come with the house and I was sure when I moved the people who moved in would find some use for it. "I'm sorry, Edward."

He screamed out, trying to fight the venom. I sat on the chair by the bed, horrified by my own selfish actions. What I had done to him was putting him through far more agony than any death could have done. Edward was burning inside by my hand and there was nothing I could do to ease his pain.

Thinking back to my own transformation I suppressed a shudder, nothing in my memory is more defined than the pain that it took to transform me. The venom moves sluggishly through your veins, making sure to wash over every inch of your insides before moving on the next point. It dripped like honey onto your heart, each drop more scorching than the next. And it wasn't only the burning to endure; all the while the venom is sneaking through your veins, the muscles inside you are twisting and changing, feeling like they were blowing up to burst when in reality they're still the same as they were before the transformation, only becoming stronger.

The thirst after the change wasn't as bad as the transformation, but it was frightening. To wake up in a world where you can see every scratch in the smallest shard of glass, or hear someone whisper your name from across a crowded room, is daunting enough, but the added scorch in your throat, a burn unlike the searing pain from your transformation, is what drives newborn vampires wild.

I kept no note of time as I watched Edward's change. Sometimes he would scream, and each time I would apologize, while others he would just move uncomfortably on the bed as the venom crept through his body. There were rare occasions when the pain wasn't as bad for him, when he would stop moving and listen to the noises in the room or look at me with his darkening green eyes.

Towards the end, though, his eyes stayed shut. The burning sensation went up and through your eyes before returning to other points but some of it would linger, turning your eyes from your natural colour to the bright red of a newborn vampire. I heard Edward's heart pick up, and knew it was almost over. It propelled quickly, beating faster and faster until eventually... it stopped. I waited, not breathing, for something to happen.

"Edward?" I asked, and he opened his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to leave a quick note to thank everyone for their support with this story! I'm trying to keep updates regular, so hopefully this continues.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> NinaKing.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.”**

**Lao Tzu**

 

** Edward **

The pain searing through my body seemed to go on forever. Whatever this pain was, it squeezed my heart so tightly I was sure it would explode inside my chest. Everything within me ached and burned so much that I could have sworn that I’d been plucked from my hospital bed and thrown into the very pits of hell. I was burning, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

In the midst of my pain, there were moments I could sense someone sitting beside me, murmuring apologies occasionally, but I couldn’t focus on the voice beside me, when my body was on fire and he wasn’t doing anything about it!

I wasn’t sure how much later it was, but the pain started to lift from my fingertips and toes, moving slowly up my body and centring on my heart. The pain surrounded my heart, forcing beats out of it sluggishly and painfully. The beat of it picked up suddenly, whirling faster than anything I’d heard before…

And then, there was silence.

No sound came from anywhere. I couldn’t hear the sound of my heartbeat, the voice beside me was now silent, and I wasn’t even breathing. I dared not move, though, in case it brought the flames back. 

The figure beside me must have shifted, or something, and then he spoke again. “Edward?”

I opened my eyes, wondering how he knew my name, when, suddenly, my eyes were drawn to the ceiling. I could see every grove and wear in the wood above me, my eyes traced the lines where the paint licked at the corners and faded slightly. My eyesight hadn’t been this good before, surely?

“Edward?” The voice repeated and I moved, suddenly and fluidly, to come to standing. My eyebrows creased together at the sight of the blonde man standing before me with his hands up. “It’s alright, Edward.”

_‘Settle him down, Carlisle. He’s obviously concerned.’_

Of course I was concerned! The last thing I remembered was lying on my deathbed and, even though those memories were faded, I had no recollection of this man anywhere in my memories. 

“My name is Carlisle Cullen, I’m a doctor,” he explained, keeping his hands held up, as if I was a threat to him. “I know you’ve probably got a lot of questions about what’s happened to you, and we’ve got plenty of time to go through them, but would I be wrong to say you’re probably very thirsty?”

The burn in my throat licked painfully once he mentioned it, and I nodded slightly. I needed water, and now. “Could I trouble you for some water, Doctor Cullen?” 

He chuckled slightly, “It’s not water you thirst for, Edward. You see, the pain you experienced through the last three days wasn’t pain from the influenza. It was a transformation; you’ve turned from a human… into a vampire.”

A vampire? 

I didn’t know whether I should be concerned, or laugh at this man’s insanity. The latter seemed to be quite rude, so instead I held my tongue.

“The notion seems… strange, yes, he said, and thoughts that were not mine flickered into my mind; showing the truth behind his words, “But…”

“I believe you,” I replied, listening to the slight chime in my voice. “I don’t know how… But I know you’re telling me the truth.”

His expression displayed his surprise, but he didn’t voice it. Instead, he smiled at me, “Well, we can go over the semantics of everything later. I think we should hunt now and quench the feeling in your throat.”

Unsure of what he meant by a ‘hunt’, I nodded to him anyway and followed him out of the house and into the woods the house was situated in. I couldn’t quite explain it… but I believed what Doctor Cullen had told me about vampires. It seemed impossible to put into words but when he spoke of everything to do with this new world I was suddenly immersed in, his mind told me he was speaking the truth.

We spoke along the way and he told me most of what I was so curious about; why he fed off animals, why he’d decided on me to turn, and what had brought him into this life.

When he spoke of my mother’s dying wish for me to be changed, I was hit with the image of her, weak and begging for him to save me. For the good Doctor to ‘do what others could not’ for me. It was unexplainable…

Could all vampires look into each other’s thoughts like this?

I repeated the thought in my mind, staring at the blonde vampire for a moment, before he noticed the silence and looked to me with a smile.

We’d stopped in a small clearing, surrounded by large boulders and trees far out from any part of Chicago I’d seen before. We were both silent, but I could hear the trickle of a stream a few miles away, the snap and crack of branches in the woods… and the faint sound of hoofs on the ground.

“Focus, Edward,” he murmured, as I felt a strange liquid flood my mouth and whipped my head around to focus on the smell moving by us. “You can make this clean by snapping their necks quickly. It’s an easier death for them, too.”

Carlisle’s compassionate words of wisdom were lost on me as I ran after the scent, my feet making no noise against the forest floor. With the elk in sight I crouched down low and felt a quiet growl echo through my chest. Pouncing off the rocks I’d settled on, my hands wrapped around the neck of one of the elks and snapped it under my grasp. 

My instincts kicked into overdrive as I cut through the muscles on its neck like butter until I latched onto a vein. Drinking almost in a frenzy, I didn’t release the animal from my grasp until I could drain no more blood from it and was forced to drop it’s lifeless body to the ground.

Standing, after what I thought had been a very clean first attempt, I looked to Carlisle and found him chuckling softly. In his mind, I was standing there with my shirt blood-stained and ripped, my hair standing on ends with twigs hanging through it, and my mouth dripped with blood… How I saw what I looked like to him was a mystery lost on my mind.

Once he’d stopped chuckling, he clapped a hand on my shoulder encouragingly, “That was a good first hunt,” he said, his eyes sparkling with a slight hint of pride. “It gets easier each time.”

Looking properly at his eyes, I noticed the slight change in brightness to them. He’d hunted alongside me and managed to keep his cream shirt absolutely spotless.

 _Show off._  

“So I’ll be able to hunt in all white one day?” I asked, smirking slightly as I brushed the blood away from my mouth the sleeve of the shirt I’d woken up in.

He chuckled as we started to turn back to the house. “Maybe not in /white/.”

I smiled slightly as we returned to Carlisle’s house. The burn in my throat was still present (I was soon reassured that the burn lessens with each hunt, and the older you become) but my mind still strayed back to my parents. Well, my mother.

She was gone now and I’d never be able to join her in whatever afterlife she’d tried to get me to believe in, but I couldn’t help the heaviness in my heart that I’d never see her bright smile again. I’d never get the pleasure of playing piano for her to dance to on the long, stormy nights when my father was out at work, or visiting one of his many mistresses. My mother hadn’t known about that, and I made it my job to ensure she was happy in every aspect of her life and never found out about my fathers infidelity.

Perhaps I’d never see her smile at me with lips full of joy again, but the way Carlisle smiled at me could have rivalled it. Like I was a child he was proud of, an encouraging friend who wished to see me succeed in this life. It filled me with the joy I’d felt whenever my mother was proud of me.

The familiar feeling was welcomed; it made this new life seem more homely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over the last couple of days I've received unwavering support for this work. It has come in the form of bookmarks, views, kudos and comments, and I cannot thank you all enough.
> 
> NinaKing


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**“Peace is the result of retraining in your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be.”**

**Dr. Wayne W. Dyer**

 

** Carlisle **

Edward settled impressively into life as a newborn vampire. He never placed himself in the way of temptation, he stuck to a vigorous routine which included hunting at least once a day so that he was never caught off-guard and thirsty, and he made me proud of how far he’d managed to come.

As soon as we agreed Edward was comfortable in his newborn vampirism we agreed it would be best if we moved away from Illinois. No one had noticed his disappearance from the hospital and I’d signed off on his death certificate discreetly enough that I didn’t receive any questions on the matter, but he couldn’t truly settle here. Instead, I handed in my notice at the hospital, stating I had an ailing mother in a different state who required my urgent care, and sold the house.

The new house in Ashland we’d moved to was very similar to ones I’d resided in in the past; nestled into a surrounding forest with no neighbours within a few miles. It was the perfect place for Edward until his newborn year was up.

Once we’d settled we spoke openly about everything; he knew my transformation story backwards, he knew of the time I’d spent alone. He spoke to me of his memories from being a human, not wanting them to fade, as he said they were already blurry. He was emotionally distant from his father, which never saddened him. He’d wanted to enlist in the army one day to be able to make his mother proud and ensure she lived comfortably.

There were a couple of days here and there when Edward would wallow around the house and became increasingly difficult to speak with, but that was his way of trying to adjust to this new way of life without his mother by his side.

Because of the strained relationship we’d had, even after our exchange on his deathbed, I hadn’t mourned my fathers passing. I knew the hole left in Edward’s heart by his mother was a large one though, and that it would take some time for him to be able to think about her without bringing sadness upon himself.

I caught myself thinking about his pain once when in the living room with him. We’d both been reading and Edward had sighed from across the room. Almost immediately my mind flickered to his mother’s face in wonderment of if he was thinking about her, and he’d growled under his breath.

 _‘Thinking about his mother again,’_ I thought to myself, not paying much attention to his growl; it wasn’t unusual for books and printed materials to annoy Edward with the content of their pages. 

“I wasn’t aware thinking of one’s recently deceased family members was a crime.” He muttered to himself, annoyance lacing his words.

With a curious arch of an eyebrow, I brought my gaze from the page I’d been reading and looked at him. He was still hunched over his book, his fingers clenched so tightly around the book’s back I was certain he’d buckle it in a moment. 

Had he just….?

Pausing for a moment, I held my tongue and allowed my thoughts to speak for me. _‘I never said it was a crime, Edward. I was simply thinking.’_

“Could you keep your thoughts to yourself, at least?”

“Edward,” I said and he looked up from his book. I closed my mouth and gave him a look; _‘I am keeping my thoughts to myself.’_

“What…” He trailed off, letting the book settle in his lap and the pages to ruffle so he lost his place. “How… How are you doing that?”

“I’m not.”

He thought for a moment; the look on his face one of complete bewilderment, “I’ve… I’ve seen what you were thinking before, but I concluded you were putting your thoughts into my mind, or something. Or it was a vampire thing… What’s going on?”

“I think you’re reading my mind, Edward.” I told him, ludicrous as it sounded. 

Chuckling slightly, the bronze haired boy shook his head, “There’s no way.”

I gave him a smile, impressed with the new talent he was displaying. _‘Explain it some other way, then.’_

I’d heard of vampires possessing certain gifts and talents before; I’d met a few on my travels before. Both Maggie and Siobhan of the Irish Coven I’d encountered possessed unique and useful talents, and a nomad named Alistair, whom I’d had a strange friendship with, possessed the ability to track someone, an ability unparalleled to any tracker I’d met before.

Could Edward’s suspected telepathy be something similar to these talents? 

He shook his head again; the look that graced his features was one of complete shock and disbelief, so I continued in my explanation.

“When some humans are turned into vampires they bring certain… abilities into their new lives,” I told him, placing my book to one side to give him my undivided attention. “Like your sense of smell and sight, these talents are enhanced by your vampirism and can be made into amazing gifts. I’ve met vampires who can detect if you’re lying to them, some who can detect these abilities in others and those who can track animate beings at a further distance than any vampire I’ve met.”

I could see curiosity in his features as he, too, put his book to the side and sat back in his seat to listen to what I was saying. “So… Are these powers always something you’ve had in your human life?”

“No,” I shook my head slightly. “There’s a large coven in Italy whose members possess a great deal of power. Two members of theirs are twins; Jane and Alec. Jane has the ability to inflict a great amount of pain onto her victim, such pain that vampires have begged for death as a relief. And Alec has a power that, in ways, is worse. While Jane can make you feel the worst pain imaginable, Alec makes you feel nothing. He can cut off all your senses, rendering you helpless.”

“Are they part of the Volturi you mentioned?”

“They are,” I murmured, “They are Aro’s greatest weapons.”

Edward frowned at me, pondering my words, “I thought you said the Volturi were there as the face of peace and co-operation within this world? Why would they need weapons?” 

“Human policemen carry weapons, do they not?” I countered, crossing one leg over the other. Fidgeting was a trait I’d picked up over my years: something to make myself look more human. “You hope the peace will be kept as if no one is armed, but you arm yourself as if everyone is.”

“We’re unarmed." 

“We are not the force of law within this world. People have no need to attack us.”

Spoke well into the night, engaging in lively debates sparking over everything. We debated whether the Volturi were really needed to keep the peace in this world, if vampires would be welcomed into an afterlife, if the gifts some possessed could be altered at all by your experiences before, during and after your transformation (although I didn’t vocalise these feelings, I guessed Edward had been referring to Jane’s rather sadistic abilities) and seemingly endless topics.

Elizabeth Masen had made a difficult choice for her son, but Edward was flourishing with vampirism. He was a bright, humorous mind for me to spend my evenings talking to, and he seemed eager to be able to learn new things and embrace this new life.

He was good company to have, and his optimism over the thirst in his throat and how to manage it was encouraging. I was ever thankful he too wanted to embrace my diet alongside me; I would have respected his choices in what he wanted to drink, but having him side with me on this made me feel less alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I cannot thank you enough for all the support I'm receiving on this work. From the bottom of my cold, dead heart, thank you!
> 
> NinaKing


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**“Life throws some curveballs at you and you go where it takes you.”**

**Sophia Bush**

_ August 12th 1921 _

**  
**

** Carlisle **

Ashland had proven to be a very comfortable place for us to live. Even in these summer months the sun rarely shone through bright enough to render Edward and myself housebound so we wouldn’t expose our skin. It couldn’t be the nicest place for the humans at times, but for a vampire it provided easy living.

I continued my work in Ashland Memorial Hospital as a part of the medical team and Edward took up some classes, a couple hours a week, at the local college. He didn’t trust himself enough to spend more time than that inside with humans, but in the three years he’d been a vampire, he hadn’t slipped once.

I accredited his success to his self-control, but Edward tried to insist it was because he’d never been put in the way of temptation.

“I think it would be different if I’d experienced being near someone with an open wound, or something,” he’d mused one evening while we were playing chess. “The first time I smelt human blood was nearly two years into this life.”

I’d moved my knight across the board thoughtfully, trying to keep said thoughts away from what I was planning for my chess pieces. “It would be difficult for even mature vampires to be around blood that exposed.” 

“Not you.” 

I’d sighed at that point; an amused breath of air from my lips as I watched him pondering the board. “It’s not often I’m caught off-guard, but even my self-control has its limits.”

Edward looked as though he was going to say something to me, but instead he smiled as he moved his hand across the board. “Checkmate.”

We’d had many enjoyable evenings since Edward’s transformation and he was proving himself to be a very educated young man. A result, he’d explained, of the private school education his father had guiltily bought for him. He enjoyed reading many things, he’d taught himself to speak Spanish, French and Italian in the short time he’d been a vampire. As well as playing the piano beautifully (another thing brought through from his human life.) 

The one thing he was sure he’d never do, though, was being able to practice medicine in the way I had. He’d been doing research as I had, and looking through my medical journals, but Edward had convinced himself his restraint would never be enough. I was dubious to that notion, but I didn’t push it with him.

In our short time between moving from Illinois to Ashland we’d visited Alaska briefly so that I could introduce Edward to a coven living a lifestyle similar to our own. Unlike Edward, though, the Denali sisters had come into vegetarianism on their own. 

Their mother, Sasha, had been one of the vampires taken down during the plague of the Immortal Children. Tanya, Kate and Irina still did not know what had brought their mother to create such a child, but it left them with mourning hearts and an undying respect for the law.

Edward must have known what had happened to Sasha; Tanya was never one to not think of her mother in a day, but he didn’t bring it up. Not that he would have gotten a word in edgeways, with how animatedly Tanya was holding conversation with him.

“She’s not really interested in me,” Edward had said to me, on our way to our new home in Ashland. I’d asked out of curiosity and, although he’d originally cringed, Edward couldn’t help but chuckle, “She just can’t seem to understand why I’m not in the least bit interested in her.”

“Tanya is not often rejected,” I replied amusedly. She was as lovely as the very stars that shone in the sky and human men had thrown themselves down before her in the past. Edward’s rejection must have sparked some sort of competitive nature in her. “As I’m sure you can imagine.” 

“Succubus.” He’d chuckled to me, as we shared a grin over his little joke.

We didn’t visit the Denali’s again for the new couple of years, but when time was stretched endlessly before you, a couple of years went by without much notice. I think Edward was thankful that in secret; Tanya could be very persistent when she wanted to be. He’d told me it was bad enough to have to listen to the thoughts of the girls in his college lectures, let alone having someone with similar vampire abilities chasing you.

I considered myself lucky that I didn’t have the ability to read other people’s minds and listen to their thoughts. People became flustered when faced with vampires; our beauty alone was enough to lure our prey to us. But taking Edward out and about town with me gave me a good enough idea of what people were thinking.

He especially cringed whenever the young clerk at the bookstore rang up our purchases. His golden eyes strayed to the ground as he muttered under his breath, so fast that she couldn’t hear it. I usually found the best thing to do in these situations was just to smile, and then laugh it off later on.

That’s what I tried my best to do at the Hospital, when faced with the nurses, anyway.

“Doctor Cullen?” One of the nurses said with a gentle knock to my open door. She was one of the younger nurses at the hospital, with blue eyes that looked perpetually elated and curly blonde hair kept in place in a bun by her cap. Her pale face blushed slightly as I turned my eyes to her and gave her an inviting smile. 

“Hello, how can I help you?” I asked, pausing from packing my things away into my briefcase. I’d just finished the nightshift, covering for a couple of doctors who had fallen recently unwell, and was due to leave any minute. I didn’t need to leave and rest, but suspicions could arise if I stayed too long. 

She stepped a foot inside my office, turning her hands rather anxiously. “I know your shift is over and you’re probably looking forward to going home to your brother,” Her eyes danced a little as she thought of Edward, and I concealed a chuckle, “But we’ve just had an unidentified body admitted to the morgue. We just need a doctor’s signature on her papers so we can make funeral arrangements.”

“Are there no family members we can contact?” I asked, though it was really no trouble for me.

“I’m afraid not. She’s another Jane Doe. A couple of hikers saw her jump off a cliff, but they couldn’t give us an idea of who she was or even what she looked like. Apparently it happened too fast.”

I nodded, giving her a parting smile, “Of course. I’ll sign them off on my way out.”

With a quick and cheery ‘thank you’, she turned on her heel and I heard the clip of her heels down the hallway.

Gathering my things up and tossing my coat over my arm, I made my way from my office down into the morgue in the basement. It was a shame that they couldn’t identify the body of the woman who’d tried to kill herself; this meant that her family couldn’t properly grieve or say goodbye to her. Perhaps though, if she’d tried to end everything this way, it would be best if she weren’t identified.

If they thought she was missing, or had simply run away, perhaps it would be easier for them than to believe their mother/wife/daughter had killed herself.

Picking up the information from the desk before the morgue’s entrance, I scanned my eyes over it quickly, taking in everything they could find out about her. 

_Female._

_Between the ages of twenty-four and twenty-six._

_Severe injuries sustained to her spine upon impact._

_No sign of a heartbeat._

_No resuscitation attempted._

I pulled back the curtain to examine the body and sign off on the sheet, my eyes scanning over every last detail of this woman again. They hadn’t attempted resuscitation, so my job would be slightly easier given that she was pronounced dead on the scene.

Looking up, I felt the papers slip from my fingers and flutter down onto the floor in shock. The woman before me was gaunt in herself, her face pale and her eyelids closed off to the world. Her caramel coloured hair was muddy and matted, but even without it being in perfect condition, or her eyes being open, I knew who this woman was.

 _Esme_. 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**“Worry occupies the part of the heart where faith should live.”**

**David Willis**

** Carlisle **

_Esme…_

_Esme Platt…_

_How… What… Why?_

Yes, this woman lying before me was older than the girl with the broken leg I’d treated ten years ago, but I would have been able to identify her anywhere, in any lifetime. 

I felt a slight wave of grief was over me as I trailed a finger across her cheek and down her neck, my eyebrows pulling into a sad frown. “Oh, Esme. What _happened_ to you?” I whispered. I wouldn’t be able to sign off on these papers of this young woman’s unfortunate death… My fingers trailed over the nape of her neck and I felt something beneath the surface of her skin that made me pause.

A faint, unsteady pulse was there.

Listening intently, I could hear it down there. Too faint for human ears to pick up on, her heartbeat was failing fast but it was still there. Which meant she was still alive.

I’d paused to consider my actions when it was Edward on the bed before me, but with Esme I didn’t even pause to think about the repercussions. She didn’t have long left, so I gently moved her hair out the way of her neck and leant down, sinking my teeth into her soft skin and letting my venom spread within her.

If her heart failed the venom would have no chance of spreading round. The beating was getting weaker with each passing second, so I wasted no time and bit again below the first bite, feeling her move slightly under me, and then brought her wrist to my lips. 

If I bit her along all of the pulse points of her body, the venom would have a much better chance of spreading along her. I watched a small amount of life come into her as her eyelids flickered, and her chest heaved as the venom moved to her heart.

Soon, she’d start to make noise.

“It’s alright, Esme.” I murmured softly, as I gathered her into my arms as carefully as I could. My eyebrows knitted together in concern as I realised just how broken her spine was as I carried her, but the venom would surely fix that. I gathered my things up and sped out of the hospital, leaving the papers signed behind me and forged the rest to say that she’d been buried and everything was taken care of.

Her head fell against my chest as I raced through the town and into the forest, her lips moving slightly but no sound came from within her yet.

 _‘Edward, you may wish to stay back.’_ I thought to myself as I came within range of the house. There were a couple of cuts and wounds over Esme, though her blood had mostly dried against her skin, but still. Edward deserved to know what was happening so he could leave if he needed to.

“What have you done?” He demanded as I brought Esme in and he caught sight of her.

I didn’t answer him. Instead I brought her upstairs and got her settled on the large sofa in my study, my every thought occupied by worry. 

Edward stepped into the office, his eyes dark upon Esme, listening carefully to the words she wasn’t saying. “Carlisle, she’s hurting.”

“It’s the venom,” I replied curtly, relaxing only slightly as her heartbeat picked up strength. “She’ll be in pain for a while yet; remember your transformation?” 

“Not just physically…” He murmured, his eyebrows knitting together as he stared down at her. Edward stood still next to the sofa as I pulled a chair up beside her and sat down, taking her hand in mine to offer her some small amount of comfort during this time.

He was silent beside me for a moment as he listened into her mind, occasionally wincing at what was most likely the pain of her transformation in her mind. Suddenly, he asked a question that made my dead heart drop; “Where’s her baby, Carlisle?”

“Her what?” I demanded, looking from her face to my son’s in shock. Her… Baby?

She didn’t have a wedding ring on her finger, or any faint trace of one for that matter, but it was possible that she was a widow of some sort… A baby hadn’t been brought in with her, but that didn’t mean one didn’t exist.

“Wait,” he murmured, blinking slightly as he knelt down by her side. As if moving closer to her made her thoughts clearer to him. “She thinks she’s in hell; burning for committing suicide… I think… No, I know… Her baby died, that’s why she went to the cliff.”

“No more, Edward,” I shook my head, giving Esme’s hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. “This is not something we should pry in. These are her private thoughts; we cannot divulge into what brought her to that cliff and made her jump.”

I knew Edward could not help hearing her thoughts, and that would never be something I would ever hold against him, but sharing her deepest, darkest secrets amongst us felt disgustingly wrong. She was here, hurting and all she needed was someone by her side during this time.

A couple of hours into her transformation was when she seemed to find her voice. The venom had given her enough strength to be able to cry out in agony, her face contorting in pain briefly, until I gave her fingers another squeeze. “I’m sorry, Esme. I promise it’ll be over soon.”

She pulled her fingers from my cold grasp and scraped her nails urgently against the bite marks I’d left engraved on her skin. “It burns!” she cried out. If her skin had still been that of a human, she would have surely made herself bleed by this point, with how desperately she was scraping at her neck. “Make it stop!” 

I reached out and took her hand once more, pulling her fingers away from her neck. "It'll be over soon," I murmured comfortingly to her, my other hand gently stroking her caramel hair. "I know it's painful now, but I promise it'll be over soon."

Her warm fingers tightened around my cold ones as she screamed out again, her back arching slightly against the sofa as she tried to rid herself of the venom running through her.

I continued to murmur softly to her into the evening. The sun set beyond the window in my study, bathing the room in a light orange glow that illuminated Esme’s features. She didn’t scream out at the pain again, but the way her face twisted in discomfort in pain told me her transformation was still aching her within. 

Edward stepped into the room sometime in the late evening, listening into her mind once again. "She's becoming more aware now," he told me softly, as his eyes looked over Esme's changing form. "She's... painfully away of what she's done, but she still thinks she's in hell."

I shook my head gently. How could someone so lovely even consider the possibility that she’d go to Hell? Edward didn’t try and coax me to speak, instead he let me stay with my thoughts, as I distracted myself by watching the way that Esme was slowly changing before my eyes. 

Her skin had become paler in these last few hours; her hair becoming thicker and the peculiar caramel colour shining through more brightly. Her lips were fuller; the light pink colour of them more prominent against her newly paled face. The woman I’d brought in a day and a half before was a mere shadow of the woman who was lying upon the sofa now.The venom had done wonders to fix her broken bones, including how her spine had been badly injured before.

Edward returned to the room as soon as her heartbeat started to pick up suddenly and followed the familiar final steps of transformation from human to vampire. From his limited experience with newborns, I knew he was preparing for her to be hostile towards us. 

As Esme’s heartbeat took off suddenly, I rose from her bedside and stood next to Edward; not wanting her to view me as hostile standing so close to her.

She must have sensed that the pain had lifted from herself because, as her heart stopped beating, she opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling above her.

I watched her ruby eyes carefully as they flittered around the ceiling, before flicking over to where Edward stood. She was still for a moment, before she suddenly leapt up and slammed back against the wall behind her.

“It’s alright,” I said to her softly, holding my hands up to show we meant no harm to her. “We can explain everything if you’d just-“

My words were cut off suddenly as a strange sound came from deep within her chest.

_Had she just… growled at me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Thirteen! My absolute lucky number and that's why this is the one in which he finds Esme. I know the chapters have been moving fast lately, but that's really because there's only so much you can cover with Edward and Carlisle, but things are going to slow down and become a bit more detailed now.
> 
> I can't thank you all enough for the unwavering support I've been given. It's the reason my updates are so frequent, so thank you!
> 
> NinaKing


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**“People do not die from suicide; they die from sadness.”**

**Anonymous**

 

**Esme**

This was all so... strange.

Hell was different from what I’d imagined. As I’d let myself fall backwards off that cliff, I’d had various images in my head of what my punishment would be for killing myself; fiery pits, dancing demons and the shrill cackling feeling of being stuck there forever were to name but a few.

In my mind hell hadn’t been a room with a desk, various medical instruments and hundreds upon hundreds of books lining the bookcases attached to the walls. It hadn’t been this feeling of absolute stillness, in which I wasn’t even breathing but didn’t need to.

Hell... Shouldn’t be this clear. 

I swallowed as I looked around the room, feeling a fire within my throat as if I hadn’t had a drink all year. Every particle in the air danced before my eyes, but even that wasn’t enough to distract myself from the dryness in my throat. 

I debated whether or not to move from where I was lying, when the presence of another person prompted me to leap up from where I was, surprisingly gracefully, and slam myself into the wall behind me. 

The boy I was staring at was beautiful. He had golden eyes set into a pale face, illuminating their strange colour, tousled bronze hair on his head... and there was something about him that I found threatening. Perhaps the fact that I could smell him from where I was stood? Not in a bad way... but something in his honey scent told me that I should be weary.

He had a slight innocence to his features that I almost wanted to trust, reminding me of my... my baby.

My thoughts flickered between grief over my son’s death and the agonizing burn in my throat.

As I’d let myself fall through the air the one thing that brought absolute soundness to my mind over the decision to fall had been that I was sure the pain would lift. Even as I’d burned just minutes before, I was sure that the sensation of my body being burnt alive would be exchanged for my grief and mourning over my dead son.

_Why was our time so short, Alfie?_

He’d been the most beautiful baby I’d seen, even if I’d only held him in my arms for three days before he’d passed away. He was born with a mop of dark hair upon his head, his eyes had been a startling blue and his cheeks cherubic... Even just picturing his face, the image blurry now, brought a grief to my heart that weighed heavily.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by the sound of a second man speaking; “It’s alright,” he said, but I couldn’t bring my eyes up to this man who’d interrupted my thoughts of my darling boy. “We can explain everything if you’d just-”

A sound echoed from within me, rumbling slightly as it broke past my lips. My eyes, which had been transfixed on the sight of this bronze haired boy, moved suddenly to see who had brought such a sound to my lips and I was sure I was going to pass out.

My expression must have been dumbfounded, but he continued as if I hadn’t just _growled_ at him. “I know this must be confusing to you. You may not remember,” he smiled kindly, “But I’m-”

“Carlisle,” I cut him off again, listening to the bells chime in my tone of voice. “I remember who you are.”

That brought another smile to his face and I wondered what kind of hell this would be. Who placed someone through the very pits of hell and then gave them their own personal angel?

He looked as angelic as ever... Like he hadn’t aged a day.

“You’re not in hell.” The bronze boy cut in, a small smirk playing along his lips as I looked to him questioningly. 

Carlisle gave him a small look and they seemed to have a silent exchange, which had the boy nodding slightly, “You’ll have to excuse Edward,” he said, turning his gaze back to me. “He’s very intuitive.”

I felt my eyebrows knit together in concern; my thirst making my patience ware thin. I needed answers. If I wasn’t in hell, then where was I? “Where am I?”

“You’re... In our house,” he said delicately, “You were brought into the hospital I work in after your accident.”

“It wasn’t an accident,” I told him. “I meant to fall off that cliff.”

His expression turned concerned for me, but only briefly as he spoke to me again, “I’m very sorry to hear that, Esme,” My name sounded as heavenly as ever coming from his lips, “And I hope you will not resent me for what you’re about to hear.”

I wanted to laugh at that; the thought that I could even think about resenting the man I’d been infatuated with since I was sixteen was ridiculous. The very idea of it made me want to chuckle, but I held my neutral expression.

Carlisle must have taken my silence as a good thing, continuing without needed my reassurance through words. “You see, when you were brought into the hospital they believed you were dead, so you were taken straight to the morgue. They didn’t attempt resuscitation as they couldn’t find your pulse, and I was asked to be the signing doctor on your death...”

I let those words sink in, before nodding for him to continue. 

So, I wasn’t dead. Why was I burning for so long, then?

“I went to sign off everything, when I realised who you were,” he continued, “I was... Shocked, to say the least, but even more so when I heard your heartbeat. It was faint and you were dying, so I did what I could to save you... I bit you. I turned you into a vampire to save your life. I wasn’t sure it was going to work; your injuries were very severe, and I must say I’m very impressed with your transformation. That may be why the pain was so severe for you...”

“I’m a what, sorry?” I asked, blinking at him.

I was definitely dead. Or, perhaps, I’d gone mad from Alfie’s death and hadn’t really jumped at all. This could all just be one lucid dream and, any minute, I’d wake up screaming strapped to a hospital bed in an Asylum somewhere.

That was when Edward chimed in again, “You’re not dead and you’ve not gone mad. Carlisle’s telling you the truth; he changed me too when I was dying.” He shot out of the room so quickly I was sure I should have missed him moving, and when he returned he handed me a mirror. 

Giving him a quizzical look, I raised the mirror and looked at my face as he gestured for me to. 

What I saw staring back at would have shocked me to absolute stillness had I not been already frozen in place.

The woman staring back at me was as pale as the snow that fell over Christmas; there wasn’t a single mark on her perfect skin. Her perfectly shaped lips were a pale pink colour, contrasting well with her skin, and thick caramel coloured hair framed her heart-shaped face. It was me... But it wasn’t.

This woman didn’t have the sadness of a grieving mother over her face, or the stress lines of an abused wife. There were no secrets hidden in her eyes.

But _her eyes._

Before I’d fallen from the cliff, my eyes had been a dead grey. Hazy from years of abuse and unfocused by the fresh mourning I was experiencing. These new eyes, set behind a dark set of eyelashes, were bright red; so bright it almost hurt to look at them.

All sense of reason screamed at me that I was asleep and dreaming but the thirst in my throat was so real it made me want to scream out. There was a fluid strength I could feel through the muscles of my body, and breathing was no longer necessary... In fact, it felt strange to be breathing at first when my lungs didn’t burn for oxygen when I deprived them. Carlisle had been telling the truth... I was a vampire. 

“She needs to hunt,” I heard Edward say to Carlisle as I lowered the mirror and looked at the similarities between them. They held differences, of course, but they both had the strange golden eyes with the purple shadows beneath them, and both had the same pale skin which was now my own. “She’s resisting, but she’s very thirsty. I don’t think she’ll be in control of herself for much longer.”

_Hunt?_ What on earth did that mean? From the little I’d been told of vampires, ghost stories I’d heard from my brothers as a child, I knew they drank human blood for the same purposes human’s ate food. Did they expect me to go out there and find someone to... No. 

“I don’t want to,” I told them both, causing two pairs of golden eyes to snap onto my face. The thought of killing someone... Taking them from their families...  Orphaning their children. Even in this new form, where the thought of drinking something to dull my thirst made my senses sing, I didn’t want that. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

The smile that covered Carlisle’s face was so bright it had me almost beaming back at him in unexplained happiness. “You’re not going to hurt anyone, Esme,” the pride in his voice was undeniable, “We’re vegetarians, Edward and I, so we hunt animals. We try to preserve human lives.”

My eyebrows rose in slight, undeniable amusement. “Vegetarian vampires?” I murmured, chuckling softly to myself, “Okay.”

 

**Carlisle**

The pride I felt at the compassion Esme still had was unparalleled to anything I’d ever felt before. I was thankful that she didn’t appear to detest me for pulling her into this life Edward and I shared; Edward was monitoring her for malicious or uncontrolled thoughts. His smile and expression told me that there wasn’t such a thought going through her mind.

“She thought you were an angel.” He murmured to me, before leaving ahead of the two of us to scout the forest for humans. The last thing either of us wanted was her to have a bad first hunt.

With Edward gone, I gave Esme a reassuring smile and nodded towards the door. “Shall we?”

She smiled back at me, although I could see she was trying hard to keep herself light and controlled. Moving at vampire speed, she was out on the front porch in a matter of seconds. As a breeze moved through the trees, I watched as Esme’s head turned in the direction Edward’s scent trailed off to. 

“Where has Edward gone?” she asked, turning back to focus her red eyes on me.

I stepped down off the porch, allowing her time to follow me into the woods, “He’s gone to make sure it’s clear.”

“Clear?”

“He’s making sure there’s no humans in the area.” I corrected myself, as we moved quickly through the trees.

“Oh.”

Her expression was thoughtful for a moment, before we caught up with Edward in a small clearing of trees. 

“No one’s hiking today,” He said, looking to Esme. “You’re free to go wild.”

Esme stood there for a moment, looking around at the trees and the fluttering birds and butterflies that flew past us. Her hunting instincts hadn’t kicked in entirely well, which could only be a good thing, really. 

“Close your eyes,” I told her softly, hoping to help her instincts along the way. After a moment, she listened to me and allowed her dark eyelids to close over her ruby eyes. “What do you smell?”

She was quiet for a moment, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. “Damp leaves. Cut grass. Fresh air. Frost... Something sweet,” she murmured slowly. Her body tightened, lingering on the last smell she’d mentioned. Her nostrils flared and her eyes snapped open, now a threatening black, and she ran from the clearing, giving over to her instincts. 

_‘Keep on her.’_ I thought to Edward, and we shot off behind her, trailing her scent through the woods.

We followed her for a few miles into the dense forest, and I began to worry that she’d caught scent of the town some miles away, when we stopped suddenly. Esme may not have that same fragility of the girl who broke her leg aged sixteen, but she still looked petite to me. 

Yet, here she was, launching herself fully at a large black bear and growling at the beast as it swatted at her angrily. The bear roared at her, but soon cut off into a gurgle as she buried her face into it’s neck and silenced it. 

I stood in silence, not wanting to distract her, but Edward did not allow her the same peace.

Instead, my son of sorts burst into laughter. A loud, belly-laugh, that would have had him bent over as a human, clutching his stomach. It echoed off the trees and, as she dropped the bear to the floor, Esme turned her curious gaze to him. 

“She’s a natural, Carlisle,” He told me, clapping me on the shoulder as he continued to chuckle. “There’s just.... Something off about watching someone of your size, Esme, attack a fully grown bear and win.”

She smiled at him, approaching us now that her thirst was stated. She seemed to be in a much better mood, at least. “Well, that should teach you to not judge a book by it’s cover.”

“It certainly does.”

Esme ducked her head bashfully and I couldn’t help but rub her arm comfortingly, “You did much better than Edward did on his first hunt,” I said, my tone teasing and light as Edward smirked at me. “At least you’re not wearing half your meal.”

We made our way back to the house, catching a couple of elk on the way to ensure the burn in Esme’s throat would be dulled for at least a little way. She was quiet along the way back, her clouded expression making wonder if she was thinking back to her human life.

Curiosity had me wondering what had driven her to that cliff. She’d been such a carefree young woman when I’d last seen her, full of dreams... What had happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this might be the longest chapter I've posted here, but I just couldn't stop writing. I love Esme so much, I wanted to do her transformation and first hunt some justice, and I hope I did just that.
> 
> NinaKing


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**“Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”**

**Buddha**

 

**Edward**

Esme was only two days into this life when I began to have my suspicions about her. 

She was every bit as lovely as Carlisle’s thoughts believed her to be. She hunted with me a couple of times a day, she was charming and very relaxing to be around, but, with my... talents, I had an idea of when someone was trying to hide something in their minds.

Carlisle had explained to t about my gift after our first hunt; my ability to look into other peoples minds and rob them of the one type of privacy they should be allowed. Not that he’d phrased it like that, of course. He’d said it was an exceptional talent, one very few vampires were blessed with. Trust Carlisle to try to spin some light on one of my burdens.

Since then, Esme was very careful what she thought about when she was around me. It was all generic stuff; she focused on the books she was reading just a little too much, or she’d keep her thoughts very... simple. That alone was enough to rouse my suspicions. 

When I’d brought it up to Carlisle he’d been very insistent that she wasn’t hiding anything, and, if she had been, then those were her secrets to have. As insistent as he was, there was no denying that, in his mind, he held a few theories and thoughts too. Ranging from the two of us reading far too much into the whole situation to Esme loathing everything about this life.

As I’d told him; Esme didn’t hate him for what he’d done. There was no malice in her thoughts whenever she thought about Carlisle. 

Day five was when Carlisle returned to work, stating he needed to cover a shift for another Doctor who was supposed to be on duty and was unwell at present. Esme had been sat on the sofa with a book in her hands when I’d asked Carlisle who he was covering for.

“Doctor Randler,” He replied, wrapping his scarf around his neck. “He’s got measles, he thinks.”

“Charles?” I asked, remembering the older Doctor I’d met a couple of times. From Carlisle’s thoughts I knew that he didn’t take days off sick, ever, so he must be really unwell.

If Esme’s shifting thoughts hadn’t brought my attention to what was truly on her mind, then her sharp intake of breath and the stiffening of her shoulders easily would have. Carlisle paused in his movements, his golden eyes looking to her worriedly. 

“Are you all right, Esme?” he asked her softly, but she kept her hardened eyes on the pages.

She tried to focus on the words of the pages, but I persisted in looking in her mind. 

That was when she slipped, and everything that had driven her to that cliff hit me like a boulder to the face. I felt venom rise to my mouth in anger, the same way bile would rise to the mouth of a human presented with this very news. 

I was at her side in a second, lowering the book down from her grasp and trying to catch her attention. She knew she’d slipped because she couldn’t even look at me, shrinking away from me instead. Her face was set in a cold, unreadable expression as she tried to reel her thoughts.

“Please don’t.” She whispered softly, her voice every bit as broken as he expression looked.

Carlisle came over, kneeling down before her with the same expression plastered on his face as I knew was on mine. “Esme.”

“Charles...” she took a deep, unnecessary, breath in. “That was the name of my... My husband.”

His face remained unmoving, but his thoughts whirled through endless possibilities. Did she miss him? Did she wish to return to him? Was she regretful of this life because she couldn’t be with him? Did she lose him in some devastating way?

“He was abusive.” I spat out, trying to stop the train of thought in Carlisle’s mind. Esme’s flashed though memories of him; dark memories, blurred from her human life, but the pain in her mind was still raw.

She’d spoken to us about her son before, but she’d never mentioned anything about her husband and now we knew why.

Esme shook her head, trying to shake the blurred memories away from her mind so that I couldn’t see them. She was trying to lock everything away so I couldn’t see the extent of his abuse, but something slipped out and I growled at what I saw.

_Charles towered over her in the kitchen, his eyes glassy but the anger in them still evident. He’d been drinking through the day and now into the night. It was well past midnight now, as he’d finally returned, and he was angry she wasn’t in the kitchen when he returned._

_“I- I didn’t know when you’d be home.” She stuttered, her small frame shrinking under the glare he was throwing her way._

_His hand reached out, grasping around her necklace. The pearls were a wedding gift from her brothers wife, but he didn’t care as he tugged them mercilessly and the pearls flew everywhere. “You don’t speak to me like that in my own home!”_

I stopped listening to her memories as his hand raised, knowing if I watched in anymore I’d be tempted to hunt the monster down and tear him limb from limb for laying a hand on her. Carlisle’s response was more supportive for her, more about making her feel comfortable again; I just wanted the bastard to pay.

I hadn’t realised that, while I was watching her abuse unfold, Esme had been murmuring to Carlisle about what had happened. 

“I left when I realised I was pregnant. He’d told me he wanted a baby before, but his mind changed too quickly,” she said softly, her gaze averting Carlisle’s as if she’d done something wrong. “I couldn’t risk raising a child in that home... Especially not if we had a daughter when he so desperately wanted a son.”

My father nodded in response, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “You did the right thing, Esme. For you, and for your son.”

She sighed, “If Charles believes me to be dead then I did the right thing. My memories of him are blurry now.”

“That’s because your new memory is so much sharper than your human one,” Carlisle explained to her. “Eventually you’ll forget it all. You’ll only remember what means enough to you to hold onto.”

Esme nodded, her thoughts pondering over her next couple of words before she spoke them. I didn’t stick around too long to hear them, in any case. I didn’t feel pressured to leave them both to talk about it, but something in Carlisle’s thoughts had been changing lately. His inner voice was a lot more in-tuned to Esme’s than he’d care to admit, and I knew he’d appreciate this time to talk to her.

Besides, I knew all I needed to and it wasn’t in my nature to pry.

Not vocally, anyway.

Instead, I retired to my music room for the time being. My fingers tickled along the ivory keys of my grand piano, testing them although I knew they were in perfect condition anyway. Sitting down at the bench, I trailed my fingers through a few bars of my new composition, before I settled myself on writing something new for it. I improvised a bridge at the end of the line I’d mentally written, and smiled when it flowed easily. 

“Your playing is beautiful.” Esme said from the doorway, causing my fingers to halt as I looked to her. I’d been so absorbed in my playing that I hadn’t heard her approach.... which was strange for me. 

“Thank you,” I murmured, scooting along the bench slightly so she knew she was welcome to sit with me if she wished. “I’m composing my own music.”

She took the seat next to me with a small smile on her lips. “Whatever it turns into, I’m sure it’ll be something spectacular.”

She spoke to me like my mother did, I realised with a small smile of my own. My mother had always encouraged me in my composing too, and had sat with me through many piano lessons. 

“Has Carlisle gone to the hospital?” I asked.

“Only for a couple of hours,” she replied, running her fingers soundlessly across the keys. “He said he should be back by three.”

I nodded, knowing from her thoughts that there was something she was itching to say to me. However, I stayed silent and waited for her to approach the matter instead. Sometimes, it was better to pretend I couldn’t hear people’s inner monologues. 

“I just wanted to thank you, Edward,” she said at last, which made me stop and look to her. “For giving me the opportunity to talk to Carlisle about... about what happened to me in my human life. It’s nice to have that kind of closure.”

“Aren’t you angry at what he’s done to you?” I sighed after a moment. 

Her white teeth bit down on her pink lip momentarily, before she shook her head. “Where would the use in that be? I can either spend eternity wallowing over something I cannot change... Or I can try my best to move forward with what I have now... It’s going to be hard, but I think I can do it.”

“You’ve got a lot more strength than most have, then.” I told her, hesitating a moment before I wrapped my arms around her in a supportive hug. She reminded me so much of my mother; so kind and forgiving to those who really did not deserve forgiveness.

Perhaps that was the reason I felt protective of her from that moment.  The reason I’d try my best to always keep her smiling, as I would have done throughout my life with my mother.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**“When someone does something wrong, don’t forget all the things they did right.”**

**Anonymous**

 

**Esme**

We didn’t move on from Ashland as quickly as Edward thought we should. 

He’d told me before how soon they’d moved away from Illinois after his transformation and how they moved from town to town to try to avoid suspicion as they didn’t age. Seeing as Carlisle and Edward had moved to Ashland only six months before I’d been changed, and I wouldn’t be ready to go anywhere near the town until I’d at least hit a year since my transformation, Carlisle insisted we could afford to stay for a little while longer.

Edward was uncomfortable with the idea of staying; he’d much prefer to move on and start afresh, but, in my three months with them, I’d learned to trust Carlisle. Even if Edward did tease me that we stood by each others opinions like a married couple.

It had taken me some time to learn to trust that my life with the Cullen’s was a lifetime away from my life with Charles. Carlisle had a warmth in his smile that I’d never seen attempt to touch Charles’ lips. The only thing that had touched Charles’ lips in the final months of our marriage was the rim of a bottle.

Carlisle and I had spent many enjoyable nights talking and playing chess, once he’d taught me; it was hard not to fall back into the way I’d felt when I was sixteen around him. He made me laugh and feel alive again, even if this was the furthest I’d ever been from being alive. A mere glimpse of the blonde Doctor could bring a smile to my face, and make Edward roll his eyes affectionately at my thoughts.

I’d never felt happier in my life than I had since waking up a vampire. I wasn’t limited in what I wanted to learn, I wasn’t held back by the ‘standards’ of my family or the demands of my husband; I was free to be and exist as I pleased. Everything seemed to be perfect to me. 

Until we had visitors one afternoon when Carlisle was at work. 

It was a rare occurrence to have people coming so far from the town to even know about our little house on the edge of the forest. So rare, in fact, that I’d not seen another human since I was turned. 

“Go wait upstairs, I’ll get rid of them.” Edward told me, his fingers leaving the piano he’d been playing moments before. There was no doubt whoever was knocking had heard the music, too, so we couldn’t even pretend no one was home. 

I vanished upstairs in a moment, choosing to wait in Carlisle’s study for Edward to get rid of our guests. Running my fingers along the spines of the old books lining the shelves, I caught their conversation on the porch. 

“Can I help you?” The sound of Edward’s voice trailed to my ears, making me smile slightly. 

There was a pause for a moment, a sharp intake of breath, and the quickened beating of a heart, which I tried not to dwell on. A male voice soon spoke up, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude. I was hiking with my brothers and got lost; I tripped on that boulder over there and caught my leg. Do you have any bandages I could use?”

I made the mistake of continuing breathing then. I should have cut the breath I was taking the moment I heard the shuffle of his trouser leg being pulled up; exposing his blood to the air and carrying the scent upstairs to me. 

Venom pooled in my mouth and I was lost to the call of this strangers blood before I even knew what I was doing. Before I could even remind myself of my promise to not hurt people, I was a vampire first-and-foremost.

“Esme, no!” I heard Edward shout as I sped down the stairs and out of the house. 

He tried to catch hold of me but I was too strong for his grip and my lips were soon around the man’s throat, quickly draining him of what blood he had left circulating in his veins. 

Human blood was so much sweeter than animal blood, and I was in so much of a thirst-driven frenzy that I didn’t notice Edward trying to pull me away from the man. It didn’t matter; by the time he succeeded there was no blood left in his body. 

Edward’s firm hands wrapped around my shoulders and yanked me firmly into the house, kicking the door shut with his foot to try to block the sight of what I’d done. 

As soon as the taste of blood had dulled in my mouth and I could no longer smell any blood around, I came back to my senses. 

Before I could pull away from him, Edward pulled me firmly against him in a hug that would have crushed the bones of a human. “It’s okay,” he murmured, rubbing my back slightly. “I know...”

“No,” I said, firmly pulling back from him. “I... It’s not... I can’t...”

His golden eyes searched mine as, I’m certain, he searched my thoughts for which angle this should be best approached at. I didn’t speak to him again, though. Instead, I fled from downstairs, slamming the door to Carlisle’s study behind me and sat down on his chair, pulling my legs to my chest. 

The scent of Carlisle hanging in the air did nothing to ease my guilt, as I let my mind race about the poor man I’d killed, his life, family... And the disappointment that would be brought home with the leader of our little coven. 

Why I’d decided that Carlisle’s office was the best place for me to wallow in my guilt, I wasn’t sure. Perhaps it was knowing that his scent, usually one which comforted me, would help me feel more of the guilt I deserved to feel.

I was a killer and I deserved every bit of guilt that came to me for this.

“Ridiculous.” I heard Edward mutter from downstairs, but I didn’t pay attention to him. 

If he wanted to step into my mind and wade through the ocean of guilt and self-loathing there, he could be my guest. It mustn’t be a good place to be looking in, though, as I hated myself more and more as the seconds ticked by.

Sometime later I heard movement from downstairs; my ears picked up the sound of Edward strolling along from the living room and out onto the porch. His footsteps muffled slightly as his boots hit the soft grass outside our home, and then he was gone.

Where could he be going?

Had I finally driven him off with my thoughts? Had he finally realised that I was a horrible person for the deed I’d done, and decided to leave me alone in my self-hatred?

A gentle knock came to the open door of Carlisle’s office, catching my attention almost immediately. I’d been so focused on listening to the sound of Edward’s departure and wondering the reasons behind it, that I hadn’t paid any attention to the light footsteps up the stairs. 

His smile for me today was full of sympathy, though I deserved absolutely none of it. I searched his eyes for any hint of anger or disappointment.... and came up blank. There was only unwavering support shining out of those golden eyes. 

“Edward explained what happened,” he said softly, as he moved to sit next to me. A couple of hours before I’d caught the sight of my ruby eyes in the window and had sunken to the floor in shame, sitting back against the glass. Carlisle now sat beside me, his head turned to me, but he made no attempt to touch me. “Everyone makes mistakes, Esme.”

I brought my eyes forward, staring a hole in the wall opposite as I spoke. “Mistakes, yes. Not murders.”

“You’re still very new to this life,” he said, “Even more so, you’re part of a life where resistance is part of our every day. You need to exercise control and not wallow in what’s happened. People slip up, it happens.”

“I’m not a person though, am I?” I asked. My tone was a little more accusing than I meant it to be, but he showed no signs of it hurting him. “I’m fast, and cold, and dangerous.”

Carlisle paused a moment, before he took my hand in his and squeezed it gently. “You’re not cold to me,” he said, and I looked up at his face. As my eyes met his a smile tugged across his lips and I almost smiled back at him. “And you don’t seem dangerous to me right now.”

I sighed softly, leaving my hand in his. “I’m just... I’m so angry at myself. You said yourself that you’ve gone your entire existence without ever tasting human blood, so has Edward. Three months into this with me and I’ve already given you a dead body.”

“You’re your own person, Esme. Everyone adapts to things differently, and this existence of ours certainly isn’t easy. You’ll get your thirst under control eventually,” he murmured to me, giving my fingers another gentle squeeze. “What happened today wasn’t the best of situations, but use it and learn from it. You know how powerful the smell of human blood can be, so try and exercise control over how it effects you.”

I nodded, silent again for a moment, before biting my lip nervously, a habit I’d brought from my human life. “You’re not angry at me?”

“Not in the least,” He smiled, before standing and offering me his hand to help me up. I didn’t need it, but I took it all the same. “I couldn’t be angry at you for slipping when you’ve accepted to live this life with Edward and I.”

His fingers lingered on mine for a moment longer before they dropped. “Would you like to hunt?”

I nodded. Getting the memory of human blood out of my mind would be hard, if not impossible, but at least if I hunted I could drown it out with something different. Besides, I wanted these red eyes gone as soon as they could fade and be golden again. 

Hesitating just a moment, I leant in and wrapped my arms around Carlisle’s torso, my head against his chest. “Thank you,” I said to him, feeling his arms wrap around me in return. After a moment I reluctantly pulled away, “For everything.”

His smile would have knocked me for seven had I been human, “For you, Esme, any time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> Just a quick note to say thanks, again, to everyone supporting this story!
> 
> All of the comments, views, bookmarks and kudos are very much appreciated.
> 
> I'll try and keep updates this frequent!


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**“Important encounters are planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other.”**

**Paulo Coelho**

 

_1923_

 

**Alice**

The rain pattered down hard against the windows as I stirred my stone cold coffee. The waitress had brought this very cup to me half an hour ago, and I knew she was watching me so I should probably fake a few sips but my nerves were on edge enough that I didn’t care about human appearances.

“Are you _sure_ there’s nothing else I can get you, doll?” She asked, tucking her pen and paper into her apron. 

I looked up from the mug and gave her a smile, shaking my head slightly. “No, thank you.”

She leant down on the counter, giving me a flash of her name tag and gave me a sympathetic look. Betty, her name was, and she was going to have a rough work day once I’d left, but there wasn’t a lot I could do for her. He was on his way.  “Everything okay?”

“Yes, thank you,” I replied, unfazed by her closeness. The smell of human blood didn’t bother me; since I’d woken up I had no desire to consume human blood. “I’m just waiting on a friend.”

“They might be a while,” she said, her blue eyes drifting to the windows, “Rain’s coming down pretty hard out there.” With that she gave me a final smile, before she went to tend to the other people along the counter.

He wasn’t going to be a while. 

In fact, just as I laid the spoon down beside the mug of coffee on the counter, I heard the little bell above the door go and his scent filled the room. He smelled even better than I ever thought he would have and, as I spun round on my chair, I could hardly believe my visions had down played how handsome he was.

Honey blonde curls, damp from the rain, stuck to his forehead as he turned his collar down on his coat. His eyes were dark enough that no one would notice how dangerous they could be when red, but that meant he hadn’t feed in a while... I anxiously searched ahead, but nothing I could see would cause him to slip here.

I slipped down from the stool I’d been sat on, my cherry red kitten heels clicking on the floor, and walked across the length of the diner to him. His eyes snapped to mine and I couldn’t help but smile at him.

“You’ve kept me waiting a long time.” I told him, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

He appeared confused for a moment, before his southern hospitality kicked in and he ducked his head. “I’m sorry, ma’am.”

“That’s okay, but to make up for it you’ve got to come sit over there with me.” I nodded to an empty booth in the corner and held my hand out to him.

He smiled, taking my hand and letting me lead the pair of us to the booth. Slipping into the seat opposite mine, he ran his fingers through his hair slightly. I could tell he was wondering who I was. I couldn’t help it... I felt like I’d known him for so long that talking to him was so comfortable.

“So, Jasper, what brings you to Philadelphia?” I asked, hiding my smile as his eyebrows knitted together. He’d be wondering how I knew his name, but he didn’t question it. “Business, or pleasure?”

“I’m not sticking around; just passing through. I needed to get out of the rain, though.” He explained, his eyes searching mine, “You’re... Like me, aren’t you?”

“Passing through?” I asked, causing him to smile slightly. “Yes, and yes, I am.”

He stiffened slightly as a waitress passed by our booth to kick the jumpy jukebox, but he kept his eyes on mine. “It’s okay. You’re not in danger of slipping here.”

Jasper’s eyebrows knitted together once again, “I don’t believe I caught your name, ma’am.”

“Alice.”

“Well, Alice, may I ask how you know so much about me?”

I chuckled slightly, “I’m very intuitive. Let’s just say... I know the outcome of a decision as soon as someone’s made it.”

He nodded, giving me another smile. “You’re gifted.”

“Just like you.” I’d seen his powers in action before; he’d calmed down a sticky situation with the small vampire ‘Charlotte’ he’d travelled around with before breaking off on his own. The ability to feel emotions was waring on him, though. That much was easy to see.

Jasper chuckled, giving me a small smirk. “Would it be wrong of me to assume that you’re sitting opposite me right now because you saw something about me?”

Crossing my arms and leaning forward on the table, I lowered my tone slightly. “I haven’t seen specifics; just flashes... All I know is that you’re going to be a very big part of my future. We’re going to go and join a coven of vampire’s who feed off animals, rather than humans.”

“Which is why your eyes are gold.”

I nodded and uncrossed my hands on the table before continuing. “I woke up alone three years ago with no memories and the first thing I saw was an image of you and I... I know this sounds intense but you’re very important to me, Jasper.”

“You’re very sweet,” he drawled, smiling. “I... I lived in a place of anger and distrust for so long... You give off very good vibes, Alice.... I feel....”

“What do you feel, Jasper?” I encouraged, “Tell me.”

His hand reached across the table, giving my hand a small squeeze. “Hope.”

 

**Esme**

Life had changed a lot for myself in two years. I was sad to say that my first slip up hadn’t been my last one. In fact, I’d slipped up five more times between that first day and now. Each time Carlisle picked me up with more forgiveness and hope in his eyes than I’d ever deserved. He was so much more than I could ever think of deserving in any lifetime, especially after all that I had been through with Charles. Carlisle made sure I knew how well I was doing in this life and how ‘lovely’ I was, where Charles had taken any and every opportunity to put me down.

Edward had been dropping more and more hints to me lately about feelings between Carlisle and myself. I’d heard him dropping the same hints to Carlisle, who simply laughed it off, so I didn’t bother to get my hopes up about him.

I never deluded myself into ever thinking that Carlisle could return any feelings I harbored for him. Although I had to accept that I did still have those feelings, even after being broken and left untrusting at the hand of my previous husband, I couldn’t hide the way my dead heart almost beat whenever he smiled at me.

We were returning from a hunting trip together when it happened.

Music flowed softly from inside the house; piano keys being touched gently to play the most beautiful tune I’d ever heard, some of which I could place in my memory. Edward was playing again.

It was always such a comfort to hear Edward composing, but this piece was obviously finished. Some melodies and bridges I’d heard him working on in passing, but I’d never thought it could sound so beautiful when it was all pieced together.

Carlisle held the door to the parlor where Edward kept his piano open to me and I stepped inside to a beautiful sight.

Candle light illuminated the room, bathing us in a light orange glow as soon as the door closed behind us. Edward was sat at the piano in the corner, his fingers working effortlessly to continue the piece he was performing. 

He looked up from playing momentarily and I knew Carlisle must have asked him a mental question, as Edward’s resulting smirk was almost infectious. “You said yourself you didn’t have a starting point. And I couldn’t exactly arrange a candle lit dinner, could I?”

The image of Edward chasing us around with candles as we hunted had me chuckling slightly, which caused Edward to smile in response. “Go on,” he urged quietly. “I’m not even here.”

Carlisle was silent for a moment, before he turned to me and offered me his hand. “May I?” 

_Oh god, could anyone resist that charming smile?_

His hand found it’s place on my waist, my hand wrapped securely in his as my hand settled on his chest. We swayed to the quiet music, turning effortlessly on the spot and I was glad to be a vampire in this moment. Any blood left in my body would be pooling around my cheeks at the feeling of him holding me so securely.

“Your son is very sneaky.” I told him quietly, a smile appearing at my lips.

He returned it flawlessly, “I know. But it’s quite hard to try to reign a mind-reader in and get him to control himself.”

Carlisle released my waist for a moment to twirl me on the spot, before he pulled me closer to him once more. “He’s always got good intentions behind it, though. I think he knew I wouldn’t be able to do this without a kick start.”

“Do what?” I murmured.

The music trailed off and there was a silent brush of wind across my skirts as Edward darted from the room, giving us what privacy he could. His footsteps vanished into the forest, and Carlisle and I were alone.

He looked sheepish... almost bashful. It gave his features an innocence that had me smiling up at him. “I can’t deny my feelings for you any longer. I was so intrigued by you when you were a human and finding you again so suddenly... I cannot lie to myself any longer.”

If my heart had been beating at this point, now would be the time that it would either propel out of my chest in happiness, or completely stopped in shock at what he was saying.

“I wish I could find the words to tell you how enraged I was to hear about everything that happened in your human life,” he murmured softly. “And I know that your trust will not be rebuilt so easily, but I’d love the chance to help you along that journey. If you’ll let me.”

“Oh, Carlisle,” I said softly, bringing my hands to his cheeks to cup his smile. “I fell in love with you the moment I saw you, and I fell in love with you all over again when you were there after my transformation.”

His smile was almost blinding as his hand gripped my waist a little tighter. I leant up as he leant down and his lips met mine with the same softness I’d always been sure they’d have.

He kissed me slowly, hands holding onto me as if he was worried I’d go anywhere, and I’d never felt as safe as I did in his arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to drop a quick note to say that work's piled up a bit for the next day or so, so there may be a slight lag between now and the next update, but it'll be up before the weekend.
> 
> Thank you all so much for your support! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> NinaKing


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**“There is no sense in punishing your future for the mistakes of your past. Forgive yourself, grow from it, and then let it go.”**

**Melanie Koulouris**

 

**Esme**

“Edward, please, I don’t think this is a good idea.” I said, my voice holding a slight hint of pleading to it, as I watched him flitter about the house at an increased pace. 

He buttoned up his jacket and fixed his hat over his hair, a smirk playing along his lips. “You need to have a bit of faith in yourself, Esme. You’ve not slipped for so long now, I really think this could be good for you.”

“And if someone recognizes me?” I replied, arching an eyebrow at him as he handed me my coat. I wouldn’t need it, but it would be cold outside for any humans venturing into town that day.

“They won’t,” he told me. I found that hard to believe; he’d been so skeptical about staying in Ashland originally, so determined that we should leave, I wondered what brought about his change of heart. My mind jumped to Carlisle immediately. No doubt he’d spoken to Edward about his reservations and managed to sway the stubborn boys mind . “You didn’t know anyone here enough for them to recognize you, and the hospital staff won’t place your face with the woman they brought to the morgue.”

Edward took my coat from me again and held it out for me to put my arms into, which I reluctantly complied with. “What about the women from the maternity ward?” When I’d had my son they had taken an account of my details and my sons details. Someone could surely recognize me from there.

“You’re grasping at straws now,” he chuckled, tucking his keys into his pocket and opening the front door. “If anyone asks you’re my sister and your names Esme Masen. Your name is quite popular at the moment, luckily for us. There’s enough similarities between us that no one will question it and no one’s going to look at you closely enough to place you back in the maternity ward, or the morgue. Stop worrying.”

Following him out of the front door, I pulled my gloves over my hands, taking my time in buttoning them up, and gave him a look. “Isn’t worrying a hobby of mine?” 

Smirking, he gestured us into the forest. 

We moved quickly and easily through the trees, nature passing us by so quickly everything would have been blurred through human eyes, before we stopped just on the edge of town. We made sure all was clear, and we weren’t likely to be spotted, before we moved out onto the road and started walking, human speed, into the town. 

Edward looped my arm into his, giving my hand a quick squeeze as we passed by an older gentleman and a woman I presumed to be his wife. My shoulders stiffened as they brushed past us and their collective scent hit me like a brick wall. I leant in to Edward, halting my breathing and collecting my thoughts. “I can’t do this.” I whispered. Even after trying to build my strength up for so long, I felt as weak as I had that first time I’d slipped. 

He looked down at my eyes, his golden ones scanning through my pupils for a moment, before he smiled. “Your eyes are still golden and you know deep down you’re going to be okay,” he must have still seen reserve written over my face, because he corrected himself a minute later. “If you really can’t take it, we’ll leave. I think you can do this, though.”

I wanted to protest. I so badly wanted to tell him to take me home or even tear my arm from his and speed home as quickly as my legs could carry me... but the look in his eyes, so full of trust, made me waver. His facial expression softened as I looked at him and he knew he was winning me around. 

“Okay,” I sighed. 

We continued into town and when the shops started to pass us by either side, I could place myself here, briefly, in my human life. I’d rented a little apartment above a shop somewhere hazy and walked down these same streets a couple of times before having my son, but, as Edward had said, not enough for anyone to know or recognize me. I’d taught in the little school by the church for some weeks but school was in session as we walked past so I had no fears of bumping into anyone in the streets.

And if I did... I’d have to trust Edward that I looked different enough now that no one would look twice. 

I heard the sound of laughter and shouting as we walked by the school. The kids were enjoying recess and playing with their friends before going back to learn some more for the afternoon. I’d always wanted to be a teacher and my dreams had finally been realised when I’d moved to Ashland after staying with my cousin for a while. 

Originally, my plan had been to stay with my cousin until after my son was born and then find somewhere to move onto... but Charles followed me to hers, and I soon realised it wouldn’t be a safe place to move to. She found me an apartment and a job at the school here in Ashland and I’d settled in as well as I could. I’d never ceased looking over my shoulder, though.

Even now, as physically strong as I was, I hoped he’d never come looking for me here.

“They sound like they’re having a lot of fun.” Edward murmured to me, distracting me from my thoughts. 

I averted my eyes in slight embarrassment; he’d caught me worrying about Charles again. How could I even be thinking of a monster like that when I was so happy with Carlisle? 

I nodded, not wanting to linger by the school, “From what I can remember, they always told me how much fun recess was there.”

“I can’t remember much of my days in school, but I can remember running around and scuffing my shoes and my father being none too pleased.” Edward chuckled, thinking back to his life when he was a child in private school.

That made me smile slightly. Even now, Edward could be a little rough around the edges when it came to certain things. His hunting had cleaned up greatly from what Carlisle had told me and certain things like his piano he was very gentle with, but he was far from the perfect hunter. I could see little Edward with his scuffed shoes, throwing caution to the wind as he raced around the playground with his friends. 

We passed by the bakers shop, the door propped open with a wedge of wood wafted the smells of baking bread out onto the street as we walked. That had been one of the sweet smells I’d loved during my human life, but now it made my nose crinkle. It wasn’t a balanced sweet any longer, now it smelt almost sickly. 

My sense of smell had become more advanced in this new life; completely changing the way I smelt things and how they appealed to me. Some things still had a nice scent to them, like freshly cut grass and the paper pages of books, whereas other things were now scents I couldn’t stand. I’d learned to trust my sense of smell since getting more experience with hunting. Especially since it had brought an array of new smells to me that I hadn’t known about, or enjoyed, before; the slight warming scent of the breeze on a warm afternoon, the scent of a mountain lion or grizzly bear nearby, and Carlisle. 

His scent had been the best of all. 

As I looked around while we walked, more blurred memories came back to me, and I realised where we were heading. 

I dug the heels of my shoes into the ground and pulled Edward to a sudden halt, a frown on my face. 

“You said this could be good for me. To take a walk into town and test my resistance in a controlled way,” I told him, my words too quick for any human to catch. Not that there were any within range to hear me anyway. “You didn’t say anything about going to the Hospital, Edward.”

Hospitals were full of cuts, grazes and bleeds that needed to be treated before they became infected. A waiting room full of people openly bleeding was something I wouldn’t be able to control myself in. Even just one person with a small cut would take my self-control, I was sure. 

“It’s nearly the end of Carlisle’s shift, I thought it would be nice if we could meet him afterwards,” He defended himself. “We’re going to meet him outside and surprise him. Trust me, Esme. It’ll be alright.”

I shook my head at him, but he tugged me along gently nonetheless. Of course, I trusted Edward in his decision on this... but deep inside I couldn’t help but consider all of the ways I could completely ruin this situation for the three of us.

If I saw those red eyes in the mirror one more time... I’d more than likely go insane. I couldn’t stand the thought of disappointing Carlisle in that way. Leaving him another body to deal with... It’d break both of our hearts, I was sure.

_Carlisle_

Edward had said _surprise_ him, which meant he had no idea we were going to be meeting him at the end of his shift. I’d been avoiding town all this time for this very reason; I’d told him I didn’t feel like my control was strong enough, yet, and he’d supported me in that choice. 

Surely, he’d see us outside and be irritated that I put his patients at risk? By being outside I was putting us all at risk of exposure by exposing myself to the risk of this all.

“Edward, Carlisle’s not going to be happy with this.” I murmured, as we stopped just away from the hospital.

“He’s going to be fine, don’t worry.”

We waited only a little while outside, before Carlisle walked out of the doors, his briefcase in his hands and scarf wrapped around his neck. His eyes moved immediately to Edward and I, standing there, and my heart would have dropped in worry had it still been beating.

His face didn’t portray any of his emotions as he approached us, but as his eyes settled on me a bright smile came across his face. “This is a nice surprise,” he said, wrapping an arm around my waist as Edward released my arm. I knew they were keeping physical contact with me to try and keep me focused should any scents come our way. “How’re you holding up, Esme?”

I looked up at him and nodded, nestled into his side. I didn’t trust myself to be breathing, so I’d stopped as soon as Edward and I paused outside the hospital.

“She’s doing really well, even though she’s doubting herself, ” Edward told him, tucking his hands into his trouser pockets. He looked at Carlisle and I with a smile, before he turned to leave, “I’ll see you both at home.”

Carlisle nodded to him, before he turned to me and his lips brushed my temple. “I’m proud of you for doing this,” he murmured supportively, “You’ve just got to trust yourself.”

“I’m finding it increasingly difficult to do that.” I replied, sucking in a tentative breath so I could speak with him. 

“I trust you, and I know that you can build your self-control up again,” he told me, “This is a really good start.”

He took my gloved hand in his, giving it a squeeze, before he nodded to the road Edward had just left up, “Shall we go back home?” 

“I think that’s a good idea,” I agreed quietly, as a family showed up to the hospital, the father holding their daughter in his arms as she slept against him. “I don’t want to push myself too far.”

Carlisle smiled, his warm hand gently cupping my cheek, and kissed me. His lips were soft against mine and the kiss was brief, as we were still standing in public, but it still made me smile and feel slightly better as I took his hand and we started to walk home together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't thank you all enough for all of the support I've received for this over the last couple of days. All of the kudos, views and comments make my day. I'll try anyway; thank you all so much!
> 
> This is just a nice, fluffy chapter to add a little more depth to Esme's relationship with Edward and Carlisle, and a little more depth to her human life. 
> 
> NinaKing


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**“According to Greek Mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves.”**

**Plato’s the Symposium**

 

 

**Jasper**  

I was trying.

Alice didn’t have to be a mind-reader to see the amount of control it was taking me to live this life with her. It was etched into the muscles on my face; their controlled movements carefully calculated over and over before they dared to even consider moving. It was in the way I held myself; straight-backed and proper, no longer a habit from my army days but a defence mechanism reading ‘stay back.’ 

My attempt to hold onto the small amount of control I had was displayed in the way I watched Alice move. Whenever her eyes glazed over in a vision, I tensed. Each time I was certain she was watching me slaughter innocent humans. But, each time, I was proven wrong as she looked at me and smiled.

She always smiled at me.

A couple of months after our first meeting in the diner we ran into Peter and Charlotte again. Alice, of course, greeted them both by name and Charlotte fell instantly in love with her. They insisted we travel round with them for a while and, while she was still eager to find this ‘family’ she’d been seeing, Alice agreed that it could be fun. 

It was so different from the environment I was used to. 

Texas had been a slaughterhouse for me. Maria had made every day a bloodbath, completely revolving around survival and destruction. We dispose of the newborns who had passed their year mark, fought for new territories and killed humans mercilessly. 

Even after leaving that part of my life behind, and moving around with Peter and Charlotte, I found life hard. They had no reservations over killing humans, but I could feel everything; the fear, the horror. It made me disgusted by myself. 

Life as a vegetarian was breathable. Especially with Alice by my side.

Although I could feel the thirst and frustration radiating from Peter and Charlotte whenever they needed to feed, which multiplied my thirst and played dangerous games with my control, Alice managed it with me. All I ever felt from her was content emotions and an all-over calm. 

“They’ve moved on from Ashland,” Alice sighed, interrupting my thoughts as she sat down with me on the tree trunk I’d occupied. “But I can’t see where they’re going yet. I don’t know them well enough for it all to be clear." 

I placed my hand over hers comfortingly, rubbing my thumb along her knuckles. “Don’t worry,” I murmured, feeling her anxiety over the situation and automatically trying to mellow it down. “We’re going to find them eventually, Alice. We’ve got forever to look for them.”

Her eyes lost the glassiness and she looked to me, “I know we find them, that vision is still as clear as anything, but I’m so impatient. I want to know them now!”

I chuckled, moving my hand from her hand to tuck my arm around her slim shoulders. She nestled into my side, leaning against me. “You can’t rush everything, you know,” I told her, amusement evident in my tone, “Things happen in due time.”

Alice sighed lightly and I felt her cheek brush against my chest as she threw her arm over my waist, “You’re right, of course,” she said a moment later. “I’m just... Ready for family life.”

Nodding, I rubbed her back comfortingly. 

Her eagerness to join this family she’d been seeing for so long was so obvious to me each and every day. She never let on to Charlotte and Peter that she was tiring of nomadic life with them, but it was clearer to me. Certainly more so when we were alone and she shared her thoughts with me. 

She always reassured me that life the way it was, when she was with me, was bliss for her, but there was something inside her that made her yearn for this family life. This normality, and I could understand it.

Alice had woken up alone as a vampire with no memories of her human life to support her or comfort her, and the first thing she’d seen was life with me and the Cullen’s so she searched for that. 

As we sat together in silence, our thoughts running through different paths, I listened to the noises of the forest around us. 

We were waiting for Peter and Charlotte to return from their hunting trip; it was easier if we broke off into pairs to feed rather than staying all together and going through two different types of hunt. Things were more convenient and certainly easier on my self-control if we hunted separate from my brother and his mate. It was obvious that we’d finished a lot sooner than they had, though it wasn’t too much later when they burst through the trees, their previously dull eyes now shining bright red; I tried not to think of the blood that brightened them.

“Good hunt?” Alice asked, sitting up from leaning against me. 

Charlotte spoke before Peter could; the petite girl sending a bright smile my mates way. “It was,” she said, “We found a couple of backpackers lost in the woods just a few miles away. Stragglers; they shouldn’t be missed.”

Alice nodded, but she didn’t speak again. Her thoughts on hunting humans had been made abundantly clear when we rejoined Charlotte and Peter and tried to convince them that they could convert to animal blood too. In their defense they did attempt it... But Peter’s control was worse than mine, and they soon switched back to their old diets. 

“No, they shouldn’t,” Peter agreed with a chuckle, taking Charlotte’s face in his hands. “But I can’t believe _you_ missed a spot during clean-up.” He smirked at her, before leaning in and licking off the small steak of blood below her lips, before kissing her. 

“You’re disgusting.” Charlotte replied, but there was nothing but love in her eyes as she gazed up at him.

Alice spoke up after a moment of those two staring into each others eyes; her own amber ones had been unfocused a moment before; most likely looking at the outcome of her next words. “Jasper and I were thinking we should all move on. We’ve been in Colorado a while, we don’t want to draw attention with the deaths.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Peter nodded towards Alice, his hand linking with Charlotte’s. “Have you got anywhere in mind? 

Alice tried to glaze her eyes, more than likely trying to force a vision on where the Cullen’s were so we could follow them, but frowned a moment later. “Perhaps... Oregon? I hear Astoria’s pretty cloudy, so we don’t have to hide away until nighttime again.”

They both nodded again, Peter leaning in to murmur to Charlotte momentarily, before he smiled at us. “Are you ready now?” 

I looked to Alice, trying to read her thoughts based off the expression on her face. If she wasn’t ready to go now I’d wait for her to be, but she looked back at me and nodded, jumping down delicately from the tree trunk. “Yes, now sounds good.”

Peter and Charlotte moved swiftly through the forest ahead of us and I went to follow suit, until Alice grabbed hold of my hand, her eyes frosted over once again. I held back, watching her face intently, “What is it, Alice?”

A smile came across her lips, her eyes focusing back on my face. “It’s the Cullen’s,” she said, giving my hand a squeeze and pulling me gently in the direction Charlotte and Peter had run off, “I’ve just seen something... Amazing.”

 

**Carlisle**

 “Come on, old man!” 

I whipped round, a smirk playing along my lips, as I tried to focus on the sounds of the forest around me. 

“Catch me if you can!”

“How am I supposed to catch you, if you’re playing dirty?” I called into the forest, the smirk tugging further as the sound of her footsteps on the grass came from behind me.

We’d left Edward back at the house some hours ago to go hunting deep into the Monongahela National Forest, looking for some big game to hunt. I’d be starting at my new job on Monday so hunting carnivores was the best way to completely satisfy my thirst and make my eyes the friendly gold that human’s always seemed to trust. Esme came along with me for company, after placing the finishing touches on our new home. 

Once Esme had passed her year as a newborn we moved on from Ashland to Elkins, West Virginia and settled in a new home. We’d ventured into the town a little bit when we first moved in, after taking the time a human would to settle into a new home, and met a few of the local people. Esme was a lot more confident in Elkins than she was in Ashland; leaving behind the memories she’d had there had really helped her to enjoy being a vampire, rather than looking behind her shoulder for Charles.

She was careful not to mention him to me, or let me see that she was still nervous when it came to the thought of him finding her, but Edward had spoken to me in confidence about it. Moving away from the place that made her nervous was something I was more than happy to do for her. 

“I’m not playing dirty,” she laughed, the wind whipping around me as she ran. She burst through the trees and ran into my arms, knocking me onto my back on the ground with her sat on my chest. Laughing, she crossed her arms. “ _This_ would be playing dirty.”

She was so beautiful.

Even more so now that she wasn’t worried all the time. 

“Of course,” I chuckled, sitting up and shifting her into my lap. “And I’d never _dream_ of accusing you of playing dirty.”

She leapt up from my lap and wrapped her arms around my middle as I stood beside her. “This day has been amazing.”

“The perfect day.” I agreed, placing a kiss to the top of her caramel coloured hair. 

And it was about to get even more perfect.

The sun was beginning to set through the trees, bathing us in a light orange glow and making our skin sparkly slightly. “Before we head back to Edward, there’s something I want to show you.” 

“Oh, yeah?” She asked, looking up at me.  

I took her hand in mine and tugged her gently along with me as I ran. 

On a hunting trip I’d taken some decades ago I’d come across a flat peak of a mountain where you could look out across the whole forest, from the lake to the tree covered cliffs. It was one of the most romantic places I’d visited and, now we’d moved here, I wanted to show Esme it and make it a memory she’d never forget. 

Edward, of course, knew what I’d been planning and had waved us goodbye with a very obvious smirk across his lips. But I knew he hadn’t mentioned anything to Esme.

“Where are we going?” She called above the whipping wind as we ran. 

I didn’t bother answering her, instead I pushed myself forward more with her beside me, and soon enough we were exactly where I’d remembered standing, alone, decades before.

That memory was going to be quickly replaced with the new memory of standing there, looking out at the sight before me, with my beloved by my side. I was no longer alone and I owed it all to Esme.

She moved forward to stand on the edge of the cliff, staring out at the view before her, “It’s beautiful.” She breathed softly. 

“I’m looking at something a lot more beautiful.” I murmured, reaching my hand into my coat pocket. 

Not turning around, I heard her laugh quietly. Taking the box out of my pocket, I slid down onto one knee just as she turned to face me. “Oh, Carlisle,” her eyes moved to the box and her expression turned surprised. “Oh... _Carlisle._ ”

“Esme,” I smiled at her, keeping my eyes on her as I spoke, “You’ve changed my life in such a large way in such a short time that I’ve known you. You came into my life and completely turned it upside down, and I could never thank you enough for doing that,” I said to her, as she remained in stunned silence. “I’ve never met someone more beautiful, both inside and out, and I feel privileged to know you and be able to love you. With that said, I’d like to ask you, Esme Platt, for your hand in marriage.”

She didn’t speak for a moment and I was certain she was going to say no, before she moved quickly over to me and leant down to kiss me. “Of course,” she murmured, before pressing a string of kisses to my lips. “Of course I’ll marry you. I love you.”

“I love you too,” I told her, as I stood and placed the ring on her delicate finger. “And I’ll love you forever.”

Part of me had seriously doubted her ever accepting my proposal. Not just because I still found it hard to believe anyone as beautiful and wonderful as her would even be with me, but because of her rough throw into life with Edward and I. 

I was certain that Charles had ruined her idea of married life forever, but I was determined to show her that a good husband, a real husband, loved his wife in the right way. 

She looked down at the ring, before throwing her arms around my neck in a tight hug. “I love you,” she repeated, her eyes bright with excitement and love. “So much, Carlisle Cullen.”

“And I you, Esme Platt.”

“That’s Cullen to you,” she smirked. “Or, it will be.” 

My surname suited her; so much more so than any surname I could ever place with her name and her beauty. As soon as she’d have me, I’d marry her and make it official so that we could spend our existences as that; 

Carlisle and Esme Cullen.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone!
> 
> Thank you, once again, for the support I've been receiving on this work. It blows me away to know how many people are supporting this and I really cannot thank you enough.
> 
> I'm sorry for the delay in updating; this chapter was quite important to me for a couple of reasons and I wanted to write it with justice. I hope you all think I did!
> 
> Thank you, once more.
> 
> NinaKing


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters.

**“They knew it**

**Time, distance, nothing could separate them, because they knew it was right.**

**It was real.”**  

**Sleepless in Seattle**

 

 

**Edward**

“You’re going to loosen your tie if you keep fiddling with it so much.” I murmured quietly, watching as Carlisle tugged the knot on his blue tie for the third time.

An almost sheepish smile pulled across his lips as he dropped his hand to his side. We were stood together in the small chapel, waiting for the Priest to arrive to begin the service and I could hardly believe it was already Carlisle and Esme’s wedding day. Six months had passed since they’d come home from their hunting trip and told me their good news, the excitement shining through both their faces and thoughts. 

They were one couple completely made for each other; I’d grown to love Carlisle as a father figure during our time traveling around together and I couldn’t picture anyone but Esme by his side. She was everything he knew he needed, but never managed to admit for himself. And I... I’d grown to love her as a mother figure. She’d never vocalized her thoughts to me, but I knew I was helping to fill the hole her son had left.

“Mr. Cullen,” The Priest brought me from my own thoughts as he shook first Carlisle’s hand and then mine. “Is everything ready to go?”

_‘Such a strange thing to want to rush; a wedding. And with no families here either? Very strange...’_

His smile was friendly enough, it was easy to relax in Carlisle’s charming presence. But his thoughts betrayed curiosity. We’d traveled to Ellamore, a short drive from Elkins, for them to marry and the Priest was understandably questioning when faced with two young strangers who wanted to get married right then and there.

I inclined my head to try and catch Esme’s trail of thought and turned to Carlisle. He squeezed my shoulder, excitement and nerves in his mind, and gave me a smile. 

“Don’t be nervous,” I said, too fast for the Priest to catch, “She loves you more than anything.”

Making my way to the back of the chapel, I turned down the small hallway and knocked on the door to the private prayer room where Esme was getting ready. “Esme?”

The door opened and she immediately had me bowled over at how beautiful she looked. The dress was simple, knee-length and strapless with a decorative bodice, her hair was curled around her face but it wasn’t what she was wearing that made her look amazing. It was the bright smile on her face like she’d been holding back excitement for too long and now it was shining through. 

Holding my arm out to her, we started to walk down the hallway together. 

I could hear the nerves in her mind, her hands would be shaking if we were human, and stopped us just short of turning to the aisle. “He’s nervous too,” I told her, and she squeezed my arm in response. “You look beautiful, Mom.”

 

**Esme**

My hand gripped tightly at the crook of Edward’s elbow as he affectionately called me ‘Mom.’ It made my heart swell to hear those words from someone I loved so dearly and counted as my son. 

“Don’t start crying on me, now,” he said, his tone teasing, “I still need to get you down the aisle to Carlisle.”

Carlisle.

Hearing his name had my pace pick up to get us down the aisle, the still heart in my chest would have been racing if it still beat. I felt Edward tug my arm gently and reminded myself to walk at a humans pace and not bolt down the aisle to the man waiting at the other end. 

We walked together down the short aisle and my eyes immediately found Carlisle’s topaz ones. He was all I saw as we took the excruciatingly long walk down to him, every step felt like a lifetime from the last and an eternity from the next. 

Finally, we reached him and Edward gave my hand to his father, moving to step back and watch the ceremony. I touched his arm gently with my bouquet and reached up to kiss his cheek when he looked back at me, “Thank you, Edward.”

The bashful smile on his face was hidden quickly as he stepped away from view and I looked up to Carlisle, my face copying the smile across his lips. 

I could hardly hear the words the Priest was saying to the empty rows of pews, my every thought dedicated to Carlisle and the life we were going to have together. When it came down to my turn to speak as we exchanged rings, I had to remind myself to appear human in front of this man.

“Esme, do you take this man to be your husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and health, for richer or poorer, until death do you part?”

“I do.” Death couldn’t, wouldn’t, part us. We were blessed with an eternity stretched out beyond us to love each other.

The Priest closed his Bible, pressing his glasses up his nose, “I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride.”

Carlisle leaned down to me, keeping appearances with human pace, and I impatiently reached up to him, pressing my lips to his. His hands cupped my waist gently as we parted and the Priest congratulated us, before giving us privacy. 

Edward came up to us a moment later and we parted to receive hugs from him. “Congratulations, both of you.” He said a smile across his lips.

“Thank you, son,” Carlisle said, his hand on the small of my back. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

“You two would have found each other eventually,” He said, tucking his hands into the pockets of his suit trousers. “I’ve never seen a couple who are meant to be together more than you.”

We left the chapel to go back home and Edward moved away from the car, his hand running boyishly through his bronze hair. “I’ll see you both later, I’m going to go see if I can catch some mountain lions before going through the town again later...”

His excuse was flimsy, especially for him. Edward’s restraint was almost as good as Carlisle’s in my eyes. He’d never been tempted by human blood like I had. I knew he was trying to give us a moment of privacy together. 

After he left, Carlisle opened the door of the car to me and brought my hand to his lips. He placed a kiss to the new ring on my finger and smiled, “I love you, Mrs. Cullen.”

My heart felt like it was swelling with happiness. My new husband was everything I could ever dream of being with.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been a long time coming. 
> 
> I'm sorry for the delay, life has been hectic in the recent months and I find myself falling in and out of muses for this story. 
> 
> The next chapter is in the works too, as is the one after that. You'll have to excuse any long absences. 
> 
> Thank you for your patience, those of you who still read this.
> 
> NinaKing.


	21. Chapter Twenty One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters.

**“The past is a very determined ghost, haunting every chance it gets.”**

 

**Laura Miller**

 

 

**Carlisle**

Life settled back to normal for the three of us almost immediately. 

Shortly after the wedding, Edward made the decision to pay a visit to a few friends we'd made in passing across the Canadian border. He cited the excuse that the hunting game was much greater the deeper into the Canadian forest you went and he was looking for something more challenging than the elk and mountain lions that frequented the forests around us, but I knew he was trying to give Esme and I some time alone. 

I was appreciative of the time with my new wife but resented the thought that Edward felt he had to leave for us to be alone. Our enhanced abilities as vampires were often burdensome to him, especially Edward's extra ability to read other's thoughts. He could never have silence in his own mind and I could imagine how exhausting it must be to listen to the affection in our thoughts for so long. 

It didn’t take long for us to lapse into the easy peace of a newly wed couple. I had taken a few days off from the hospital once I heard Edward’s plan and spent the time with Esme. We hunted together, I taught her how to play chess and she attempted to show me how to draw. Time alone together was the most thoughtful gift Edward could ever have given us.

Esme still carried with her the nervousness of a mistreated woman; she was hesitant with me the first night we spent alone together. We took every step together slowly, with her eager to show me that she knew I was different from Charles despite her reservations, and myself insisting that we had eternity together so we should take our time. 

_“I trust you,” she murmured, as she pressed her lips against mine. Her lips trembled slightly and she pulled back. “I...”_

_I pressed my lips to her forehead, wrapping my arms around her waist. “Esme, you have nothing to prove to me,” I said, resting my chin on the top of her head._

_She sighed softly, wrapping her arms around me in return. “Not to you... But to me. This is a whole new life, and I’m still stuck in my ways.”_

_“That’s okay,” I said, “We’ll take things as slow as you need.”_  

We spent a majority of the night speaking through her worries and fears, making her as comfortable as I could. When we did become intimate it was when Esme was ready and it made us much more comfortable with one another.

Our time together was greatly enjoyed, but we soon began to miss Edward. The absence of his playing made the house quiet, and it was strange to return and not have him to compare medical notes with or find him sat with Esme somewhere, watching her draw. We were both relieved when he returned and our days fell back to how they were before.

"You'll need to soften your grip to get lighter strokes, Edward." I heard Esme instructing him one early morning as I returned from a shift at the hospital.

I heard the distinctive sound of a pencil snapping and a sigh. "Perhaps I'll stick with composing; I don't think art is my strong suit." 

Placing my bag down, I turned inside the doorway to the living room and found them side by side, staring intently at a vase of flowers placed on a table in the middle of the room. Esme was curled up on the sofa, paper in her lap as her fingers quickly sketched along. Her movements halted and she looked up as I came into the room. 

"Don't tell me you're giving up already, Edward," I spoke, a teasing smile tugging at my lips.

He rolled his amber eyes and set the paper down, holding his hands up. "I've been trying to do this for the past three hours. Apparently not everything comes easily to us."

I couldn't help but chuckle as he left the room and joined Esme on the sofa, tucking an arm around her shoulder. I looked over what she'd drawn with admiration, "Did you draw a lot in your human life?"

"When I was younger," she mused, leaning against my touch. "Drawing and reading were two of my greatest passions... I remember asking my mother about taking classes at the local college, but she wasn't fond of women being educated so I taught myself in private..." A frown creased her brow as she looked down at the drawing. "A lot of my memories are hazy now."

"It happens," I sighed, I couldn't even picture my own father's face anymore. I just remember the essence of his personality. "Your human memories become faded over time."

There was a quiet knock on the door and the sound of Edward's footsteps towards it. I kept by Esme's side, gently brushing her caramel hair behind her ear. She was better with humans now, she'd not slipped up in a couple of years, but I knew she preferred not to tempt fate. 

Esme looked up at me and smiled, "They're being replaced with better memories."

Smiling back at her, I ducked down to kiss her softly. Her lips were delicate against my own and pulled into another smile as we parted. 

“I love you.” I murmured to her, playfully nudging my nose against hers.

Laughing softly, she pressed a hand to my cheek and kissed me again. “I love you too, my darling.”

"Esme," Edward interrupted from the middle of the room. He held a large wooden box in his hands, a curious expression on his face. "This just came for you."

She parted herself from me and went to take the box from Edward, "What in the world..."

'Any human scents on it?' I thought to my son, wondering who could be sending gifts to Esme. 

He shook his head, tucking his hands into his pockets.

She sat back down on the sofa and lifted the lid of the box. Inside, nestled against a velvet pillow, was an extravagant emerald necklace. Large, bright and set in a twisted silver chain it was grander than anything that could be bought locally. 

She took the parchment card out and her eyebrows knitted together as she read it. "Carlisle..." she murmured, her worried eyes locking with mine as she handed it to me.

_ I so look forward to meeting the new Mrs. Cullen in person. _

_ Aro _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!
> 
> Another chapter up ridiculously fast. I'm trying this new thing where I write a couple of chapters ahead so that if life gets busy/I lose interest for a while I'll still have a little something to fall back on for a bit. 
> 
> This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, and I apologise for that, but the next one (hopefully) makes up for it.
> 
> I won't be posting for a couple of days now because I'm putting in overtime at work which means stupidly long shifts for me, but it's better in the long run. 
> 
> In any case, I'm working on chapter twenty three at the moment, so if things go quiet for a bit I still have something to post while I'm finding the time to write.
> 
> Thank you, once again, to everyone who reads this.
> 
> NinaKing.


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters.

**“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.”**

 

**C.S. Lewis**

 

**Esme**

"You worry too much, my darling," Carlisle said to me as I, once again, expressed my concerns about going to see the Volturi. His hands stroked the tops of my arms gently, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. For once, his touch didn't immediately calm me.

I didn't want to tell him that perhaps he was ever-so-slightly too optimistic about this, so instead I nodded and wrapped my arms around his torso, nestling into his solid chest.

I had heard of the duties of the Italian Coven when I was new to this life; Carlisle and Edward had briefly told me of the laws they upheld and assured me we would never have any trouble with us. After all, we had no reason to provoke outrage. 

The gift Aro sent came as a surprise to me, but not to Carlisle as it seems. He'd confessed he had mentioned our nuptials to his old friend while exchanging letters with him over the previous weeks. 

Edward had briefly entertained the idea of letting Carlisle and myself go ahead to Italy alone, but those thoughts were quickly squashed when Carlisle reminded him that it was only polite to come and make his acquaintance.

"It's like he's summoned us. Like we have to stand for trial and execution." Edward had muttered in response.

Carlisle had arched an eyebrow in response and simply replied, "We have nothing to stand trial for, Edward. Don't be so dramatic, son."

I knew he was just trying to keep me from worrying about it but there was no denying it; the Volturi had a power, unlike any other coven. Even if Carlisle was part of them before, it was best to proceed with caution.

Within three days had boarded a plane to Italy, which we'd decided would be faster than going by boat and more appropriate than running, and landed that same day a short drive from Volterra.

The drive up towards the ancient city was undeniably beautiful; long stretches of sun-kissed fields, bright blue lakes, and the occasional farmhouse. But there was no denying the nerves radiating from both Edward and myself, despite the beautiful scenery. 

We stopped a few miles away from Volterra, at the mouth of a large range of trees, to do some last minute hunting. Carlisle insisted it would be good for all of us to have quenched thirsts going before the Volturi. He didn't need to say anything, but I knew he was worrying for my benefit more than anything else. 

It had been a while since I'd slipped up, but my control was still not the best and the Volturi fed as regularly as they liked. It was better to be prepared than to be faced with an unexpected problem, like my control.

"Not just yours," Edward muttered as we dispersed into the forest.

We caught the scent of some wild boar and hunted swiftly. It was a clean affair; none of us wanted the hassle of having to change and tidy-up before heading to the city. In the recent months, I'd perfected the ability to hunt spotlessly like Carlisle and Edward had. 

"The sun has gone behind the clouds now, and it's looking like it will set like that too," Edward said, looking up to the yellowing sky. The direct sunlight vanishing meant we could enter Volterra undetected. 

Carlisle looked up and nodded, "Then we best be on our way." He smiled at me and tucked an arm around my waist as we walked together.

Was he nervous at all?

I caught Edward's sharp nod before we got into the car; his way of answering my question discreetly. He went back to his seat in the back of the car, staring out of the window as we made our way across the slightly bumpy road up towards Volterra.

The rest of the drive brought us into the heart of the city and we parked the car nestled between the tall buildings. There were few people walking through the square as we made our way to the clock tower, where Carlisle informed us the entrance would be. As the large wooden door closed behind us we were alone for only a few moments before a looming figure in a deep red cloak rounded the hallway and stopped in front of us.

“Carlisle,” the figure said, pushing the hood of the cloak down from his face. He had sandy brown hair, spiked up in all directions and the same pale skin as all of our kind. His eyes, a dark red, scanned across Edward and I before settling back on Carlisle. “Aro was not expecting you so soon. What a surprise this will be.”

Carlisle smiled slightly at the man, who had a small smirk on his lips in response, “Demetri,” he greeted, “We received Aro’s gift not long ago, and thought it best to convey our thanks in person.”

The necklace that had been nestled into the hollow of my throat felt like it was burning as Demetri’s eyes were drawn to it and he smiled again.

“This way,” He instructed, leading us down the hallway. A chuckle escaped his lips as we made our way down the long, winding staircase, “You’re just in time for dinner.”

Carlisle did not react to the joke, instead, he squeezed my hand reassuringly. 

We were led by Demetri down the long staircase and into a grand foyer. A human woman with dark hair and green eyes stood as we walked through.

"Welcome to Volterra," she spoke with a thick Italian accent, a small smirk on her lips as she looked to Demetri. "Signore."

"Lucianna." He nodded curtly, not looking at her.

I kept a tight hold on Carlisle's hand, Edward just a step behind us, as we walked down the torch-lit hallway. It felt like we were walking through a dungeon and I could have sworn it was one if the walls hadn't been adorned by masterpieces. There were statues and vases stood upon pillars, along with hundreds of bunches of magnificent flowers.

Clearly, these Volturi had money and they weren't afraid to flaunt it.

I glanced back in time to catch the look of disgust on Edward's face. He was never one for showing off. 

Demetri stopped at the large doors at the end of the hallway. He listened for a moment and turned to us, "We're just about to eat. You're more than welcome to wait in Aro's library; I will fetch you when we're finished."

He directed us down a separate hallway to another slightly smaller door. As he opened it and showed us inside, he smirked once more, "But, as I said before, you're more than welcome to join us."

"No, thank you, Demetri," Carlisle said, his tone as light and polite as ever.

Demetri nodded his head, "Aro would not forgive my lack of manners if I didn't at least extend the offer." With that, he turned on his heel and left us to the quiet of the room.

Edward wandered over to the thousands of books lining the floor to ceiling bookcase, "Most of these are first editions..."

"Aro has an incredible collection," Carlisle agreed, "It's grown impressively since I was last here."

As they admired the books, I found myself looking around the rest of the room. It was a very friendly layout, despite the dark colors and the only source of light coming from the torches attached to the walls. There was a large black fireplace, shadowed by a couple of comfortable armchairs. I peered closer to the top of the fireplace, looking at a large plaque inscribed in scripture.

_Didyme - Time passes quickly but slowly when I think of you._

"Aro's sister," Carlisle murmured, suddenly behind me. "She was killed a few decades ago, and he's not quite been the same since."

I looked up to him, about to answer but Demetri was in the doorway once again. His demeanor was more relaxed, his eyes a brighter red. "Shall we?" he asked, waving his hand back down the hallway.

Carlisle squeezed my shoulder gently and we followed Demetri back down the hallway towards those large doors once again. This time, however, he pushed them open and we were lead into an elegant throne room. 

The room was enough to take my breath away; marble floors with golden-edged tiles, giant pillars stretched towards an oval skylight in the ceiling. There was an excruciating amount of detail in every pillar and post in that room that could not be taken in at first sight even with my eyes. An oval platform stood at the far end of the room, marble steps leading up, and three large black thrones sat solitarily. 

A short vampire with milky pale skin and luminous red eyes stood with his hands clasped at the foot of the black thrones. His face was lit up in childlike wonder as we were lead into the center of the room, before him. 

Even with so much to take in, I was still distracted by the faint scent of fresh blood in the air. It made my throat burn. 

"Carlisle, my dear friend," Aro said, his voice barely attempting to conceal his excitement. "I was not expecting you so soon, but when Demetri told me of your arrival I thought... Of course. It has been too long."

He stepped closer and reached a hand out. Carlisle dropped a hand from me and reached out to his old friend. At first, I thought they were going to shake hands, before Aro's long fingers wrapped around Carlisle's hand and held it. 

I glanced at Edward, who stood at Carlisle's left side, staring at the exchange.

"It has been too long," Aro sighed, releasing Carlisle's hand after a minute. "I feel as though I have missed so much!"

"Nothing that wouldn't take you a moment to catch up on," Carlisle replied kindly.

Aro reclasped his hands with a smile. "But so much has changed! You turned young Edward, with his extraordinary gift, and your charming young wife without but a century passing us. Time moves so differently these days; I almost forget that it passes sometimes."

As he spoke, he was flanked once more by Demetri and a taller, broader, vampire. They stood back from him but somehow I knew they were there to protect him if the need arose.

"I must say, the necklace is very becoming on you, young Esme," he said, his bright eyes turning to look at me. I almost squirmed under the intensity of his gaze. He stared at me in silence for a moment before he threw his hands up with a laugh. "You must forgive me, I feel as though I know you so well already," he moved forward, holding out his hand. "May I?"

I cast a small glance to Carlisle, before reaching to place my hand in his. His grip tightened around mine, as he stepped up closer to me and his eyes focused on something I couldn't see. 

"Aro has the ability to see every thought your mind has ever had," Carlisle explained quietly, "Much like Edward, but more in-depth."

"Much more." Edward agreed dryly.

"Your coven has grown beautifully," Aro murmured, still clasping my hand between his. "First with the addition of Edward, your first companion who turned out to be a mind reader!" His eyes focused back on mine, "And then with the woman you now call your wife. It's extraordinary how fate works, is it not? That the pair of you were to meet when she was sixteen and find yourselves reunited years later. And then to fall in love! What are the chances?"

"I count myself a lucky man, Aro."

I could see Aro was building up to say more, he kept squeezing my hand and searching my eyes for something.

There was an unsettling silence across the room as Aro peered into my darkened gold eyes. We'd fed not long ago, but the remaining scent in the room was tantalizing my senses and making me thirsty.

"You struggle still with your thirst," He murmured quietly. "I've always admired Carlisle's strength when faced with human blood... I would not be as able to resist. Sometimes it sounds a lot easier to go with the natural choice, does it not? It is what nature intended us to do... The times you have ‘slipped’, shall we say, are they not the times that you’ve felt truly who you are meant to be? A vampire? The taste of human blood... I can think of nothing that compares to it."

"It's not my way of life," I replied softly, ignoring the scorch in my throat at the reminder of the taste. "I've chosen the way I wish to live and, although I struggle, I'm determined to succeed eventually."

With a look of almost disappointment, he dropped my hand and turned back to walk a little closer to Demetri and the other vampire. I took a step back to Carlisle, whose face was harder than before, and took his hand in mine. His fingers wrapped around my own securely.

"She has a compassion that rivals even yours," Aro chuckled, looking back to Carlisle. "Do not be angry at me, friend, it is in my nature to question, is it not?"

“Question. Not interrogate.” Edward muttered.

“Edward.” Carlisle shot him a look.

With another laugh, Aro shook his head and approached Edward, “You and I, my boy, are going to be very close friends one day. You have a fearlessness I have not often seen in my lifetime,” he took Edward’s hand and smiled, “And a resolve that could challenge your leaders.”

The smile faded slightly, “You think of them as parental figures...” Aro murmured, a look of disbelief in his eyes. “After your mother... I am very sorry. I can see why you are protective of Esme.” He released Edward’s hands and clasped his hands once more, “Forgive me! This should have been a joyous visit! Carlisle and Esme are married, and everyone is happy once again!”

Just as he was going to continue, a smaller cloaked figure stepped through the thrones from a back entrance. “Master.” She greeted him, going to stand by his side.

“Jane, my dear, Carlisle has decided to visit us.” He said, waving a hand towards us.

Jane turned her crimson eyes on us, her expression unchanging. “Welcome,” her voice remained monotone as she looked back to Aro. “The traitor has been brought in at your request, Master.”

Aro’s face was briefly delighted before turning apologetic as he caught our gaze once again. “This has been wonderful; a pleasure to see you again, Carlisle, and to meet your new... Family. We mustn’t leave it so long next time... But, I’m afraid, I have matters to attend to.”

Carlisle nodded and turned me to follow Demetri out of the room and back down the hallways. His expression was unreadable to me, but something was bothering him. Edward’s face bore the same expression, as though he was mirroring Carlisle’s mood through his thoughts. I couldn’t figure out what it was...

“Thanks for visiting!” Lucianna stood and called as we left the lobby. “We’ll see you soon!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! The slightly longer chapter, Volturi included.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it.
> 
> NinaKing


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters

**“How lucky I am to have had something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”**

 

**Winnie the Pooh**

 

 

_1927_

**Esme**

As the weeks bled into months, and the months into years, I could easily understand how Aro could lose track of time so quickly. Carlisle and Edward never did tell me why they left Volterra with such stern faces, instead choosing to focus on the point that we wouldn't have to visit for many more years now. For someone who was so optimistic about the visit, Carlisle turned quiet for a while after seeing his old friend after so many years. I decided it best to let the subject drop; if Carlisle wanted to share with me his thoughts on the matter then he would do so eventually.

In the two years since Carlisle and I had married, we moved once again to Wisconsin and found a town with a small enough population to settle in. Carlisle's expertise and knowledge, that surpassed his youthful face, was welcomed at the local hospital and Edward, posing as Carlisle's brother, signed up for some classes at the local college to keep himself busy during the days. 

We fell back into the familiar routine rather smoothly, but I could place a tiredness in Edward's eyes over the past days that I hadn't seen before. His days would flow into one endless cycle of procrastination... Though what he was procrastinating against doing I couldn't place my finger on.

He'd come home from his classes in the evening, play his piano for a few hours, go hunting occasionally and, more often than not, he'd read or play chess. His playing the piano was always a comfort to my ears but he never seemed to settle on a new piece; instead, preferring to idle through the keys at a mismatched pace until he grew tired of it and moved on to something else.

"Perhaps he's bored," I suggested to Carlisle one night while we were in bed. I traced a light pattern over his chest thoughtfully. "He's been stuck in the same routine for a while now..."

"Well... yes. And while they may be true, I don't think he'd appreciate us discussing him at this exact moment, my love." He replied. settling an arm around my waist.

"I'm being serious, Carlisle," I said, pushing up on an elbow to look my husband in the eyes. "There is something... not right at the moment, and he's going to explode if he keeps it bottled up for too long."

Carlisle twirled a strand of my hair around and around his finger, "I will take him hunting tomorrow and see what I can do, but I cannot make any promises," he smiled up at me cheekily. "This is Edward we are talking about."

"Thank you." I smiled back, leaning in to kiss him. 

Our closed-off son was unlikely to open up easily to anyone, but I knew if anyone could get him to talk about how he felt, it would be Carlisle.

As I pulled back, Carlisle's hand cupped the back of my head, bringing my lips back down to hiss in another soft kiss. His hand brushed the bedsheet away and skimmed back up my bare back, stopping short of my shoulder blades. 

We were left to the privacy of our night, as Edward had taken a trip to a nearby town to see about replacing his piano. The old one was his favorite, but he saw no harm in playing with newer toys from time to time.

The new day came with the morning light.

Although reluctant, we were out of bed and dressed before Edward came back through the door. We felt bad enough about practically driving him away with how in love we were, we didn't want to rub salt in the wound by being all over each other when he was home.

"Are you nearly ready for that hunting trip, son?" Carlisle asked, clapping Edward on the shoulder as we walked into the living room.

If Carlisle saw the way Edward nearly flinched at the word, he didn't mention anything about it.

"Sure," Edward murmured, putting his book on back on the shelf. His fingers lingered as they pushed it back into place before he turned back. "Ready to go now?"

They had been planning to go later in the day, but Carlisle nodded nonetheless. He gripped my waist and pulled me closer to him, pressing a kiss to my lips briefly. "We'll be back soon, my love."

"Don't rush," I replied, before pulling Edward into a hug. He was stiff against me but hugged me in return. I held him at arm's length, casting him a worried look which he shook off as he ducked away. "Goodbye, Edward..."

"Goodbye, Esme."

 

_Several hours later..._

 

The sun had begun to set behind the clouds before Edward and Carlisle returned. I spent the day rearranging a few things in the house and touching up a bit of the decorating that needed some love. Once finished was that, I moved on to drawing and reading... Anything to entertain myself in the house by myself.

I met them on the porch and immediately knew something was wrong. 

Carlisle's face was downcast, an expression I rarely, if ever, saw. He walked alongside Edward who looked... guilty.

"What's going on?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest as my eyebrows knitted together.

Edward's amber gaze darted to the ground, his shoulders heaving in a silent sigh. 

"Carlisle?" I asked, sensing I would not be told anything from Edward.

"It's not my place to tell you." He replied, stopping just short of the porch steps to look back to Edward.

My bronze haired son stared at the grass a moment longer before he brought his eyes back to mine. "I'm leaving, Esme."

"You're.... what?"

"This life... I can't do it anymore. I've been resisting for so long, but it's getting harder to do this every day," he said, his words hitting me like rocks. "I love you and Carlisle very much, but it's not enough to keep me here. I have to go."

Not enough?

"Animals... We weren't made to sustain off them like this," he looked to Carlisle, "Well, we weren't all made to..."

"This isn't about your control, Edward," Carlisle muttered quietly. "Regardless, you are still my son and I will support whichever path you chose."

I looked at Carlisle, startled.

How could he be so willing to watch Edward walk away and leave?

"Mom, I'm sorry," Edward murmured, "I know you don't want me to go, but I can't stay here doing this, day in and day out. I can't spend eternity like this."

Looking back to Edward, I wondered if my face looked as broken as my heart felt. 

It felt as though my dead heart had been given life and suddenly ripped from my chest.

How could I lose another son?

"I think it's best we don't prolong this," he continued, "I think it's best if I just go..."

In an instant I was in front of him, my arms wrapped around his torso like a vice. I knew I couldn't keep him from leaving... but it was worth a shot.

His arms wrapped around me, holding me together before I fell apart.

My shoulders shook with a silent cry that no tears accompanied. This new, vampire body didn't know how to cry properly. No relief came with the wetness from my eyes any longer. My face was unchanging.

"I'm so sorry, Mom," Edward whispered and I closed my eyes as his arms were replaced with Carlisle's and I buried my face into his chest.

"Edward, please don't-" I murmured, but looking up I could see it was too late.

My beautiful, bronze haired son had vanished into the surrounding trees. His scent hung in the air, but it wasn't enough to cling onto. We were supposed to have an eternity as a family, but six years into my new existence and I'd already lost another son. 

How could Edward leave?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little later than I originally anticipated, but here is the latest chapter.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> NinaKing


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters.

**“Rebellion is a sign of a child fighting to be seen as who they are.”**

**Carol Tuttle**

 

** Edward **

The slow resentment I'd built over Carlisle curbing my appetite had been slowly building over the past year and a half. It had started in a distaste for the animals I was hunting. Where I'd usually be able to satisfy the burn in my throat with a few elk, soon they weren't enough. I found myself hunting bigger, more dangerous, predators in the hope that their blood would be sweet enough to dull the fire my venom burned in my throat.

It was around six months ago that I realized I wasn't thirsty for animals anymore; I wanted a predator more conventional to vampires. Not that humans could be called predators in anyway, not to my kind at least. Our sharp teeth cut through muscle and tissue like butter, our hands snapping their bones like boots stepping through twigs.

The only reason I'd been able to stop myself from breaking away from the coven sooner was the bonds of love that surrounded myself and the people I called my parents. I knew they'd be heartbroken if I told them that I wanted to leave the and hunt humans.

Carlisle was a great leader, his compassion unparalleled to anything I'd seen before and I knew he'd understand that I was struggling. But he would also try to insist upon helping me rather than indulging my desires. Deep down, I knew that his help would eventually win out and I'd agree to stay for a few more years and perhaps that's why I decided, fully, upon my plans before speaking to him.

Esme... Would have been difficult had I decided to speak to her first. The woman I'd grown to love as my mother would be desperate to keep me in her family, this much I knew. She'd have begged me to stay and I would have to have broken her heart by leaving anyway.

The thought of my sweet mother's face crumbling in sorrow had my dead heart aching... and the thought of being the cause of such pain made me hate myself a little more.

I caught sight of my ruby eyes in the reflection of a shop window and immediately looked away. I was ashamed of who I had become since leaving my family, but the monster inside was thrilled with my choices and I couldn't stop myself and return home.

_Not that they'd have you back anyway...._

I ducked into an alleyway as the scent of a couple of humans assaulted my senses. I'd been trying to be a killer of killers rather than a killer of innocents. I targeted the minds of those with malicious intentions, or abusive histories, rather than those in the wrong place at the wrong time. It didn't lessen the fact that I was still a killer, but it made it easier to for me to justify my actions.

_... Going to Judith's baby shower this weekend... So much to do before then... Need to get the flowers from the florist..._

_... She's so beautiful.._.

Jealousy stabbed through my body like an electric shock. I could see through the young man's thoughts the way he watched the blonde woman by his side. His mind lingered over the way her curls caressed her neck and her eyes shone with happiness as they walked, hand in hand. They weren't married, as far as I could tell... his mind was excited over their courtship and it reminded me, painfully, that I would never have such happiness.

Angrily, I pulled myself out of the young man's thoughts. They were only winding me up and with no real prey to satisfy my inner monster.

I leaned against the damp alleyway wall, eyes closed tightly as I pushed away the thoughts of killing those people. My throat burned more often now; I became irrational when thirsty and was struggling to keep a hold on it.

Pressing a cold hand to my throat to try and numb the ache, my memory painfully flashed me to the first of many. The first human I'd ever killed, after living alongside Carlisle for so long, but refused to drink.

Charles Evenson.

He was not the man who had turned my amber eyes gold. I'd refused to have any part of him inside of me; his blood was polluted by the tears Esme had shed.

For my beautiful, sweet mother I wanted the monster to beg for death and only be granted such a mercy when I had bored of torturing him... and he had begged.

_He was the only Charles Evenson living in Columbus, Ohio. Esme had spoken little about her life before vampirism, but from her thoughts here and there I knew this was her birthplace and where she'd spent the majority of her human life before fleeing for Ashland. Typical that he'd still be living in the same house he'd beaten his wife. What monster would move from familiarity?_

_It was dark when I entered the house, after waiting outside earlier that morning for the man in question to leave for the day. When it became apparent that he'd be gone for a while, I found myself snooping._

_There was no trace of Esme in this house._

_The pictures adorning the walls were all of him and a family with squat noses, who I knew were his family. There was a medal of honor on the fireplace, which made me laugh as I broke it between my hands._

_Who would honor that man after all he had done?_

_The house reeked of cigarette smoke, alcohol, and the scent of tobacco and something akin to burning rubber which was Charles' scent. I caught the faintest smell of lavender and strawberries; Esme._

_I followed it to the attic where I found boxes stacked upon boxes of Esme's things. A box full of her dresses was scorched like someone had tried burning it and quickly putting the flames out, but I tossed that easily to one side along with another filled with nicknacks._

_A third box I opened was full of ornaments and jewelry that had been broken and smashed, I guessed in anger._

_Picking up a small wedding band I squished it between my thumb and finger. "Good on you for getting out, Esme."_

_I was about to close the box up again and go back to wait for Charles in the living room when something caught my eye. A small locket, the only thing to survive Charles' tantrum, was buried under glass shards and pieces of porcelain. Opening it up I was greeted with a picture of a happy, smiling family. They ranged in ages and sizes, but the one with the biggest smile was easily recognized as my mother. She could have been no older than seventeen years old but held a smiling child in her arms at the front of the photo._

_Pocketing the locket, I left the attic to wait in the living room for the monster to return._

_It wasn't too long later that I heard whistling up the path and the jingle of keys at the front door. His thoughts were fuzzed slightly, thinking back to half an hour ago when he was down the pub with a few of his friends. I saw the pretty barmaid in his mind and almost shivered at the knowledge of what he could do to her._

_"It's ironic," I spoke quietly, watching through the darkness as he froze at the sound of my voice. "How you whistle, I mean. You sound happy."_

_"Who are you?" he demanded angrily, reaching for the light switch._

_I flicked on the lamp beside where I was sitting before he could reach it, and glared at him. "Are you happy, Charles?"_

_He jutted his chin out arrogantly, "Get out of my house." I could see in his mind that he was sizing me up. A lanky teenager in his house? He could take me, surely?_

_I wanted to laugh._

_"Do you know who isn't happy?" The words were sour as they left my mouth; Esme was happier now than she'd ever been. But I wanted remorse from him, to know he felt some regret for doing what he did to my mother. "My mother."_

_I watched as he thought through all of the women he'd spoken to recently, trying to place my bronze hair and strange gold eyes with one of them. If I looked like this, he reasoned, he would remember my mother._

_"Let me give you a hand," I said, getting up faster than he could see, and throwing him into the chair I vacated. His eyes widened at me and he tried to get back up, but I just threw him back down again. "My mother's name is Esme."_

_His mind flickered to a memory of Esme, her eye black, as she cowered away from him in his drunken rage._

_Stopping myself from smashing his skull in then, I forced myself to nod. "That's her."_

_"Esme had no sons!" He said, his hands gripping into the arms of the chair._

_I laughed, standing up straight and daring him to make a run for it with my eyes. "She had two. I'm the one you didn't kill."_

_He shook his head defiantly._

... Too old to be Esme's son and I never got her pregnant...

_"But you did," I countered, "She ran away, remember? Alone, scared and pregnant, she ran from you and what she knew you'd do to your child. She was happy for a brief time, who wouldn't be after getting away from you... But her baby died. The abuse you gave her killed her and her son."_

_His mind was working a mile a minute, trying to process what I was telling him through his tipsy thoughts. "She... She died?"_

_"You killed my mother, Charles," I growled, watching every memory he had of each time he laid a hand on Esme. "And now, I'm going to kill you."_

_I blocked his scream from my mind as I pounced on him and ended his string of abuse. I'd been careful not to spill his blood; not wanting him to be my first taste of human blood._

I was a lot more careful back then... and my thirst made me reckless.

Relief flooded my body as I caught the thoughts of a thief a few streets away. He wasn't usually someone I'd go for, but tonight he was willing to kill someone for their money.

Just my luck, I thought as I raced through the dark streets towards my next kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was such a long wait, but I struggled with how to start this chapter. I hope it was worth it anyway.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> NinaKing.


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga.

**“There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.”**  

**Laurell K. Hamilton**

 

 

**Carlisle**

The house was dark when I returned from my hospital shift that evening. The sun had set behind the thick brush of trees, casting no light across the path leading up to the front porch, and making the house look lifeless and empty. A small package wrapped in brown paper and tied with a string sat on the porch banister right beside the door. A quick glance at it told me it was addressed to Esme, but no scent surrounded the item; it had been here a while, which meant my wife had not been here to take it in. 

Usually, as I opened the front door and put my bag down, I would hear the sound of Esme moving somewhere within the house or the gentle sigh as she breathed, but there was no sound as I closed the door behind me. She had gone out somewhere... I had hope that she would have gone hunting in the dense forest surrounding our new home, but that hope was slim. Esme had developed a certain aversion to hunting; her missing Edward almost numbed her to the need to satisfy her thirst.

We had decided to pack the old house up and move a few months after Edward had moved on from us. It had taken some convincing to persuade Esme that we were doing ourselves no good wallowing in the memories of our absent son and even more convincing that he most certainly would find us if he wanted to.

Sitting behind my desk in the room that would have, should have, been Edward's I tapped the base of my pen lightly against the mahogany wood. My journal laid out before me I found myself, once more, struggling to put words to the blank paper. My days were rather uneventful without Edward's sharp tongue and Esme's melodious humming. It was proving rather difficult not to place blame on myself for Edward's departure; he resented that I curbed his appetite and tried to make him follow this lifestyle I had adopted...

How lucky I was to have my wife. To have her there so I might keep some of my sanity.

If not for Esme, I wasn't sure what I would have done on the day Edward left us...

 

_ "Edward, something is troubling you, son," I told him, as we slowed our hunting pace and stopped in a clearing a few miles north of our house. My thoughts invited him to share with me, wondered if there was something I could do to help. _

_ His eyebrows pulled together but I saw them for only a moment before he ducked his head and avoided my gaze. "It's nothing I should trouble you with." _

You are no trouble to me.

_ He looked up at me, his mouth opening as if to say something before he set his lips in a straight line. "I'm leaving." The look in his eyes told me he had hoped to say that in a better way. _

_"Leaving?"_

Why?

_ "I can't do it anymore... The mundane days blending into one... The constant thirst," he shook his head, his expression almost disgusted. "I more now than I did as a newborn but I'm still thirsty all the time." _

_ I had wondered about his new hunting habits but hadn't pressed for more information. Maybe if I had... _

_ "It's nothing against yourself or Esme... I love you both so much, but this isn't a life I can lead anymore." _

_ "You wish to hunt humans?" _

_ Edward did not respond, he only looked away from me.  _

_ It was that look on his face that stayed with me, a permanent imprint in my mind, even without my perfect recollection. His eyes burned black, despite taking down a small herd of deer, and unyielding. His mind had been set on this for a while, and there was nothing I could have done to change his mind. But, perhaps if I had caught on sooner... Seen something troubling in his face... Heard it in the way his fingers hit the keys of his piano with a renewed frustration... _

 

I broke from my trail of self-blame at the sound of footsteps on the wooden floor of my office. 

"Do you ever take a break?" The words were teasing, but Esme's face was troubled as she perched in front of me on the desk. 

"Esme..." I breathed, placing my pen down. Taking in her beautiful face, the way her curls framed her cheeks, I noticed her eyes still black as coal. "You haven't hunted."

Her lips pressed into a thin line, as she looked down at the floor. "Is he ever going to come back?"

"I hope that he will," I said softly, taking her hand in mine.

Fingers squeezing mine, she sighed and closed her eyes. "I miss him," she moved from the desk to stand by the window and look out, her arms wrapped around herself. "I miss the music when I'm drawing... I miss his blind optimism that I'll one day master this life.... The way he'd pick up flowers on the way back from a hunt because he knew I like the house bright... I miss him, Carlisle."

I wrapped my arms around her middle, pressing my chin to her shoulder and holding her close to my chest. "I miss him too," We stood together for a moment before she turned and wrapped her arms around me. "You need to take care of yourself." 

"Hunting has lost it's appeal to me," she murmured, looking up at me. 

"You're just going to end up causing yourself a lot of pain," I brushed my thumb gently under the outline of her dark eyes. The light lilac of a few days ago was now a dark violet that made her eyes threatening under her thick lashes. "Please, come with me."

"Not today."

"Esme-" I started, but was cut off by her picking up the package I had placed on my desk and examining it curiously. 

"When did this arrive?" She asked.

Watching her nostrils flare at the very faint scent it brought, I sighed and sat back down at the blank journal. "At some point today, you must have been out." Giving up, I turned the pages and closed the book, concluding to attempt to write something another time.

"Carlisle...." My wife murmured from beside me, tearing into the package. "This..."

I looked up to see what she was holding in her hands. Buried into the brown paper was a small locket on a delicate chain. Esme opened it, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and shook her head. "How?"

"What is it, love?" I asked. 

She handed me the locket wordlessly and I was greeted by the smiling faces buried into the silver pendant. A large family, a mixture of old and young, gathered in front of an old barn were smiling brightly in the faded photo. Stood in the center, a smiling child perched on her hip, was my Esme. Seventeen-year-old Esme, likely a few months after I had met her judging by the weight she had shifted off her newly broken leg, but I couldn't figure out how this would have been sent... Unless...

"Edward?" She asked, almost frightfully, as she examined the cursive writing on the packaging. "If he went to see him..."

"I'm sure Edward will have just wanted to retrieve it, so you didn't lose all of your human memories," I reasoned. My son had a distaste for Esme's first husband, but I couldn't fathom the idea of him seeking him out for revenge. I handed Esme the locket back and stood, rubbing her shoulders reassuringly, "Don't worry yourself... Let's go hunting."

This time she did not protest straight away, instead, she let me lead her from the house into the forest. The locket still held in her other hand, we both had the same fear running through our minds;

What had become of our son?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Better late than never, eh?
> 
> The festive period is such a busy time but I promise I will try and get something out soon. Thank you for your ongoing support and patience! 
> 
> I can't believe how many kudos' I've received on this work, you don't now how much it means to me.
> 
> Things are going to pick up soon with this too. I just needed a couple of filler chapters to explain about the Cullen's settling as a three and Edward's rebellion. Don't worry, I'm sure Rosalie will come and cause some trouble soon!
> 
> Thank you, once again.
> 
> NinaKing.


	26. Chapter Twenty Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters.

**“I am living proof that no matter what we go through in life... We all have the strength to get through it and past it, if we allow ourselves to.”**

**_Quote from “A Cry For Help”_ **

**Barbara Green**

 

**Esme**

Carlisle’s soft grip on my hand anchored me to the ground, as we watched the coffin lower into the dirt. The priest's words carried across the graveyard, through the thick patter of rain, and we heard him speak of peace and an immortal place in a better world. Promises of a life of happiness and fulfilled wishes were given to my ex-husband as he was finally laid to rest in the earth, exactly where he belonged. 

I was not one for petty thoughts against another person, but there was a certain criteria for someone to be defined as a 'person' and Charles Evenson didn't meet it. Cruel and vindictive in my dim human memories, I couldn't imagine he'd changed very much in the years since my 'death', no matter how much I'd hoped he had. I had a dark feeling in the pit of my stomach, one so unlike anything I'd felt when I thought of him. It wasn't a feeling of loss for myself, but for my dear son, whose name always brought a lump to my throat, and the life he'd been deprived of because the person his father had resigned himself to being.

Now, Charles had died under 'mysterious circumstances' and I didn't want to believe that Edward could be the one who committed the act but with the latest present of his being a newspaper clipping announcing Charles' funeral arrangements, I couldn't deny the facts. I chose instead to keep those thoughts out of my mind and be relieved that my new life with Carlisle could be freely lived without fear of going back to the place I once called home.

"Charles Michael Evenson was a man of great influence," The elderly priest continued, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "A noble soldier in the War, who continued to show bravery even in the face of his wife's death. Lord, we pray that you reunite Charles with his beloved, so that he and Esme may spend eternity in Your light."

A small growl echoed from my chest and I found myself stepping forward, only to be halted in place by Carlisle's hand around mine.

I looked back at him and my face relaxed once more, fingers squeezing gently in return as I stepped back under the tree. 

"I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that he told people I had died," I murmured, watching the mourners drop flowers into Charles' grave. "I can't imagine it would be good for his reputation to find out I'd run away from him. Especially not a man of his... influence."

Carlisle didn't reply and stood by my side; a pillar of support that I needed more than ever in that moment. His other hand kept a dark umbrella held above us, shielding us from the rain dropping down. 

We waited together until the funeral procession had ended, and the mourners filed out of the Evenson's private plot. One woman stayed back as people left, clutching her chest as she wept by his grave. After a couple of moments, she took a handkerchief out and used it to dry her eyes before hobbling after the others. She stopped once at the gate and looked around the graveyard, and it was then I recognised her as Charles' mother Agatha. She'd always been kind to me at family functions and had known about the world of abuse Charles inflicted upon me behind closed doors, but never said much of a word about it. 

"That's his mother," I murmured, as she closed the gate and rounded the corner of the church. We made our way over to the grave, "I can't imagine what she's going through...."

Although I had loved my son more than anything I could imagine, I had had such a short time with him that losing him after anything more than that would have been unbearable for me entirely. I couldn't imagine Agatha's pain at losing her son after thirty years of loving him.

Carlisle held open the metal gate for me, "You'll be surprised how quickly human's grieve and move on, and with a supportive family around her I'm sure she will be alright."

We lapsed into silence once more as we stood over Charles' flower-covered coffin. The flowers had already started to wilt, petals falling away with the force of the rain. I was overcome with a strange urge to open it up and make sure, one hundred percent, that Charles was really in there, so my fear of him could finally be laid to rest with him. 

The tombstone above the grave bore the words 'Loving son, brother, and husband.' and I was grateful that no mention of our child was on there. A part of me hoped he never knew of the existence of him, so the memories I had with William couldn't be tainted by the thought of Charles being remembered as a father. 

"If I live to be a thousand, I'll always be thankful that I managed to keep William away from this monster," I said quietly, touching the locket on my neck. 

"Your boy would be very proud of you, love," Carlisle whispered, rubbing my arm gently. "I'm sorry that he lived such a short life."

I nodded, turning away from the grave and preparing to head home with my husband when something caught my eye.I crossed the graveyard, to where the spousal section was and anyone who was an Evenson by marriage rather than blood was buried, and knelt down, clearing the dirt away from one of the headstones. 

"He... He buried me."

 

_ Here lies Esme Anne Evenson, _

_ Loving daughter, sister, and wife. _

_ Forever missed. _

 

"How dare he!" I growled, shoving the headstone with my hands and pushing it to an angle. 

My family had their own plot in my hometown, on the edge of our farm where decades of Platt's had been laid to rest respectively. It was where my mother and father would one day be, as well as my brothers, their wives and children and, I'd always thought, me. He had taken away my parent's right to bury their daughter somewhere they could mourn over her privately.

Rage spread through me as I pushed the headstone fully to the ground and started to break off chunks of it with my hands. "Were my parents even invited to my funeral? What about my brothers... Lucille and Charlotte... Whose body did he bury, or did he let my parents cry over an empty coffin because he just couldn't face that I'd left him?!"

Carlisle's strong hands pulled me away from the crumbling mess of rocks and pulled me against his chest. "Esme," he soothed me, shooshing my quietly as I let the anger surpass me and be replaced with sadness.

"They think I'm dead." I murmured after a moment.

I knew that eventually, I would have to acknowledge that my parents would assume I'd passed away; I was frozen in my immortality and they would age and pass on like everything else. I hadn't dreamed that I would have to face it so soon, though. I'd wanted to write my mother one last time, to tell her and my father that I was well and happy, although I couldn't come to see them again. At least then they'd know I 'died' happy, rather than miserably trapped in the lie I'd been living with Charles Evenson.

Stroking my hair, my husband held me tightly, "There are flowers beside the grave. I know it is quite a journey for your parents, but someone has been visiting. I know that it isn't much of a comfort to you, and I am sorry."

I shook my head, pulling back to reach up and kiss him quickly. "My life now is so much better than anything I could have imagined," I told him, "I know I shouldn't be so angry about things that I can't change... Perhaps it's better this way."

I looked back at my grave, shaking my head before taking Carlisle's hand in mine. "Can we go home?"

"Of course, darling."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been quite a few months. I'm not going to pile on the excuses as to why it's taken me three months to update, because what's the point anyway?
> 
> I will continue this, I said I would and so I intend to. No matter how long it takes.
> 
> Thank you, as always, for the support that floods in at random moments (I'm looking at you person who sent me enough kudos to remind me to get my butt into gear and update this) you guys are the reason I write.
> 
> Thank you for your patience.
> 
> NinaKing.


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters.

**“Missing you comes in waves. Tonight I’m drowning.”**

**Unknown**  
****

1931

**Edward**

The day dawned with a bright sun and little cloud coverage, so I spent my day in the forests surrounding the small town near New Orleans that I had chosen as my hunting grounds these past few weeks.

I’d spent my nights hunting the lowest of the low; taking down thieves, potential murderers and managing to stop all sorts of assaults. The men, and occasional woman, I’d taken down had malicious intentions and the streets were safer because of my presence.

At least, that’s what I had been telling myself to try to ease the guilt I felt.

Each time I fed and heard the fading thoughts of the victim in my arms, I could see my father's face. The disappointment written across his features each time I pictured him was the punishment I knew I deserved and he would have every right to thrust at me.

I hadn't thought of my mother much since ridding the world of Charles Evenson; my vampiric memory kept alive the loving smile and kind twinkle in her eyes that always stung guilt into my heart. I had known for the longest time that my mother would be the first person to open her arms and have me home... but the monster that fed during the nights and left my irises ruby had started to twist the way that I saw any potential homecoming.

_ After four years they wouldn't want you back... _

_ They've surely moved on and adapted to being a mated pair without you... _

_ You turned your back on everything Carlisle stood for. He'd have every right to turn you away... _

Each thought was a twisting thorn in my side that pushed me further away from my parents. It stayed that way for weeks; a repetitive cycle of anguish and running that I couldn’t seem to break.

I wouldn’t even know where to begin trying to find them, let alone trying to find the courage to go back to them. I had turned into the monster that Carlisle had tried to save me from being; the very nightmare he’d tried to prevent me from being was standing, stalking, hunting.

How could I be condemned to live this life alone?

Though, of course, Carlisle hadn’t intended for me to be alone. He’d saved me from certain death, bringing me into a new life as a friend. He’d then brought Esme into our lives and, despite my original reservations, she made a brilliant addition to our small family. Before Esme, Carlisle and I were more friends than anything else. She came into our lives and made us into a family. She made what we had worth loving and holding onto.

I’d been the one to break that apart. I’d run off, away from their constant love, and turned my back on the Coven I’d once called a family. 

For what?

To be a killer of killers? 

For the satisfaction of drinking human blood?

The taste of human blood was unlike anything I’d ever had before. My first hunt had left me so frenzied that my clean-up took me over an hour. It was euphoric, but it didn’t last and soon, sooner than I would have liked, I was thirsty and hunting again.

Did the short-lived satisfaction of my new diet really outweigh the love my parents had given me?

Leaning against the stump of a thick oak tree, I let a breath out and breathed in the taste of the woodland around me. A stream some miles away trickled its way through a rocky crevice. I could hear the way the water hit the surface of the rocks, the sound dense. 

I was alone in my hatred and confusion.

No human could trek this far without me hearing them before they even had a chance to know of my presence. The only creatures in this forest, beside myself, was mountain lions and elk. 

Even the thought of drinking from an animal repulsed me now, but I could see Carlisle’s kind golden eyes in my mind and something pushed my legs towards the sound of a gentle growling deeper into the trees. I pounced without thinking about my prey; teeth slicing through the animals furry neck and snapping the creature’s neck in my hands to give it a quicker death. 

It’s blood was off to me and it reminded me of the few times in my human life when I’d accidentally poured sour milk into a glass, thinking it was fresh. I persevered and drank until I could get nothing more, then I let the animal drop to the floor.

Wiping the corner of my mouth, I raced over to the stream, eager to see my reflection.

The eyes set in the pale face looking back at me filled me with disgust. A slightly duller version of my usually bright irises, they still weren’t eyes I wanted my parents to see me with.

Growling in frustration, I turned on my heel and ran. 

 

 

 

It took weeks before I managed to catch up to them. 

I traced them all the way back to four years ago when I left them in search of something I was so sure I wanted.

The house was boarded up; the windows blacked out and the scents surrounding it stale. They hadn’t been back here since I’d left them and, although it would make finding them harder, it narrowed down my search. 

I turned the doorknob, snapping the lock, and stepped inside. 

It was exactly how I remembered it being, not a book out of place on the shelf. I couldn’t imagine Carlisle wanting to stay around for too long after my departure; my sudden disappearance would not have gone unnoticed in the local town, but I could see Esme putting up more of a fight. She would have waited to see if I changed my mind... 

The kitchen was the same too, with the only thing being out of place was a note on the kitchen table. Scrawled in my mother's handwriting ‘ _Concord NH_ ’.

Tucking the note into my pocket, I made my way out to Concord. 

When I’d eventually traced through four years of movement which, luckily, didn’t take me very long I found myself in Alpena, Michigan. Before setting out to find out where my parents called home in this small town, I bought myself a change of clothing and tried to make myself look more presentable. 

As I walked up the cobble-stoned path in town, I tuned into the thoughts of passersby; trying to exact a location on where I might find my parents house or even a doctors surgery that my father might be working at. The town didn’t seem large enough for a full-scale hospital where I would usually expect Carlisle to spend his time.

 

_ ‘Need new mittens for Betsy... Oh, and Arthur needs his jacket pressed. Can’t forget that.’ _

_ ‘I can’t believe Mary invited Susan to her tea party and not me...’ _

_ ‘That crick in my neck’s back... Might have to book in and see Dr. Cullen again. Though he did say it was nothing to worry about now and Petunia always says I exaggerate things.’ _

 

I looked in the direction of the last thought I focused on and found myself staring at an elderly man coming out of the bakery, rubbing the back of his neck. It could have been as easy as approaching the man, introducing myself as Esme’s brother, and asking for their current address, perhaps citing a surprise visit or the inconvenience of a lost address. My eyes still held a noticeable amount of red however and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to have direct human contact for some time now.

In preparation of coming home, I’d started restricting myself back to the diet I was used to with Carlisle and Esme. Hunting animals again didn’t satisfy me in the way that human blood had, but the life I’d led alone was not something I wanted to go back to and I knew that the longer I fed on humans, the harder it would be to go back to animals. Deep down, I knew I had to come home with proof that I wanted things to change and the first step had to come from me.

“I’m going to make another appointment with Dr. Cullen,” the man said, reaching an elderly woman who was waiting outside of a butchers shop a few doors up. “This crick in my neck is still playing up. I think it might be something more sinister.”

“Oh Roger,” the woman said, placing her hand on his arm as they walked together. I kept my distance a few yards behind them. “Last time you went you were told you needed to stretch it out more. I haven’t seen you do that once.”

“I’m still gonna go see him.”

“Well, there’s no point worrying about it now. Dr. Cullen will have gone home by now,” she replied. As she spoke, I caught a glimpse of the south side of town and the forest the buildings sapped into. She wondered briefly why he lived so far, but the thought was passing. “If it’s still bothering you in the morning we’ll go and see him.”

I brushed my way past the elderly couple and made my way across town. I doubted that anyone would be able to give me an exact location on where in the woods my parents will have settled, but a direction to search was as good as anything else. Sooner or later I would cross paths with a scent that could lead me home.

“Slow down, boy!” The man called after me, but I was already disappearing into the woods.

Once out of sight of the humans I picked my pace up, using my speed to my advantage as I ran perimeter around the south side of town. I felt hopeful now, more so than I had in the previous years, but an anxious feeling crept over me as the sun started to set over the horizon.

Would they even want to see me?

I pushed my worries to the side as I caught the end trail of Esme’s lilac and honey sent. It lead me a few miles through trees until I saw a house nestled in the middle of a patch of meadow. It was small and cozy, and strangely Esme. The bricks were old, but well cared for, and a small garden in the front was home to all of my mother's favorite flowers.

Curled up together on the porch swing, bathed in the setting sunlight, was my parents. They obviously hadn’t changed a bit but I felt older somehow for my absence; like time apart from them had made me grow as a man. I watched from between trees as my father turned the pages of his book and my mother chewed her bottom lip, her hand tracing lightly over the sketch pad in her hands. They looked so happy just being in each others presence; the silence between them peaceful, that I didn’t want to disturb them. I knew how to find their house now, it would be easy to turn away and return in a few hours time. To leave them in their happiness and burst their bubble at a later time.

As I debated between options, my father's eyes scanned the forest and he stood up and stepped off the porch onto the grass. My mother was by his side in an instant and suddenly I had both of them staring right at the tree I was blocked by.

“I’m sorry,” I said, as I stepped around the tree and onto the grass. I stood a few meters back from them, unsure of what to expect. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

I glanced at the grass a moment before I heard Esme. “Edward!” She cried, running the short distance between us and throwing her arms around me in a grip that would strangle a human. “You came home!”

Wrapping my arms around her in response, I held onto my mother. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed them until that moment; years of bad decisions and reckless rebellion came crashing down as Esme hugged me. 

After a few minutes, she released me and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “We’ve missed you so much. I’d hoped every day that you would come home, that you would come back to us.”

“I missed you too, Mom.” I murmured, giving her a crooked smile as she squeezed my hands. She looked at my irises and, to my surprise, I heard the pride in her thoughts at how strong I had been to change my mind on my own and go back to the diet I used to be so settled on. 

Esme stepped back from me as Carlisle approached us, and I found myself searching his thoughts for disappointment, resentment... even anger? But as he clasped me by the shoulders and pulled me into a tight embrace, I knew I shouldn’t have worried. 

“Carlisle, I-”

“It’s forgotten, Edward,” my father told me, his eyes lighting up as he smiled at me. “We’re just happy that you’ve come home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay in updates lately. I know I've taken more time than usual to get this up, but I've had a string of bad news lately. 
> 
> Unfortunately a very dear friend of mine passed away so I took some time to screw my head back on properly and step into my muse for this story again.
> 
> Hopefully this is worth the wait. I know that it's taking some time for the story to progress, but I'm hoping this story will be long and I can cover a lot of the Cullen's history. 
> 
> Thank you for your continued support and, of course, your patience. I couldn't do this without you.
> 
> NinaKing


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters.

**“People should fall in love with their eyes closed.”**

**Andy Warhol**

1933

** Rosalie **

I was vaguely aware of the softness of my bed sheets being pulled downwards as I woke. Briefly opening my eyes and looking at the large window by my bed, I saw that the sun had risen not long ago, bathing my bedroom in warm yellow light. Sleep drew me back in, so I closed my eyes again.

“Rosalie!”

My eyes opened sharply this time to find my mother at the foot of my bed, her hands upon her slim waist. I cast a glance to my grandfathers pocket watch, open on my bedside table, and wondered why she was waking me so early. “Mother, it’s eight o’clock in the morning,” I murmured, reluctantly sitting up in bed when it became apparent that she wasn’t going to leave me.

“I need you to get up, darling,” she said, sitting on the bed beside me and brushing my blonde hair back from my face. “Your father was in quite a rush this morning and forgot to take his lunch with him. Could you be the sweetest daughter and run it over to him at work?”

How ridiculous; my father was so rarely forgetful enough to leave anything behind. I already had plans for lunch with my friends Francesca and Samantha, and a detour to the bank was certainly not on route for me.

Sighing, I asked, “Can’t you do it? I’m supposed to be meeting Samantha and Francesca this afternoon.” She knew how long it would take for me to make myself presentable for my friends.

“I’ve got to take your brothers to collect their new school uniforms and the tailor is opening specially for me, so I simply can’t,” she kissed the top of my head, before flouncing from the room, calling behind her; “Thank you, my darling!”

Reluctantly, I pulled myself from my soft bed sheets and ran myself a bath in my adjoining bathroom. As I was pinning my hair up, my mother appeared behind me with a white dress on a hanger. “Your father bought this for a special occasion, but I think he would like to see you in it today.”

She laid the dress on my bed and stepped into the bathroom behind me, brushing my hands away from my hair and unpinning it. She took my curlers out from a drawer in my bathroom and started to roll my hair into them.

“Mother, it takes so long for my hair to curl,” I complained, watching in the mirror as she started to work on my hair.

“You’ve got beautiful hair, Rosalie, and it looks even better when it’s neat and curled.”

As my mother worked, I couldn’t help but agree as I watched my hair form tight ringlets on my head. I did have beautiful hair; light blonde than shone through line honey when the light caught it. The majority of my friends had dark hair and even those who had blonde hair like mine didn’t have the shine and bounce that my hair was so envied for.

With my hair curled to my mother's expectations, I closed my eyes as I felt the slip and slide of the white dress carefully pulled over my head. Opening them again, I smiled. The white made the violet in my eyes even more pronounced. My curled ringlets settled on my shoulders, half pinned up, and my face needed no makeup though I’d put a minimal amount on.

I was beautiful.

“My beautiful daughter,” Mother said, tweaking my hair slightly. “Your father was doing something right the day we created you... Goodness knows what he was up to when your brothers came along.”

The compliments made me beam although I always heard how attractive I was. The compliments coming from my mother, who was known to be hard to please and so unsatisfied with what she had, made me feel proud of my looks. She took pride in me like nothing else, and it was all down to my beauty.

I collected my purse before leaving the house, checking my reflection in my compact one last time before venturing onto the street. Usually, mother would not allow me to walk the short distance across town to fathers work, but the freedom made me feel more independent and grown up.

“Bye Rose!” My youngest brother, Frankie, called to me from the front garden as I closed the gate behind me. He had mud on his new socks, mother wouldn’t be pleased.

My head was high as I walked to fathers work, relishing in the eyes that followed me and the young men who turned to stare. I passed the bookstore daily with mother when running errands and each day the shop assistant, who couldn’t be more than fourteen, froze at the window to stare as I passed.

I knew my beauty made some girls jealous of me, and even petty, but I had a few friends around me. My friends were not as beautiful as I, and I didn’t feel vain in saying so when it had been told to me so many times before. They were all attractive in their own ways, but they were plain and very much the same as each other. Each with their dull hair and boring clothing. I was lucky that father held down a good job and could lavish me with beautiful things to wear and a trip to have my hair curled and cared for professionally once every two weeks. My brothers were not spoiled as much as I was, but as their only daughter and eldest child, I knew my parents could see how I deserved it.

‘Beauty such as yours should be nurtured as carefully as a rose.’ Mother had told me once when I was younger. When I was first born, father had wanted to name me Lillian, after my grandmother, but mother had insisted from the moment I was born she knew I would be as beautiful as a rose, and so named me Rosalie. Father had agreed his mother's name could be my middle name instead and I grew to be even more beautiful than their expectations.

My brothers had teased me before about my vanity, but I knew that I was the envy of most of the people in Rochester. I had been easily the most beautiful person by far, even at the tender age of eighteen, before the Cullen’s had moved in just outside of town.

Dr. Cullen, his wife, and her brother were strangely beautiful. It wasn’t a soft, elegant beauty that most people had. On the few occasions I had seen them in town, I couldn’t help but stare like everyone else but at home, I reasoned that it wasn’t natural. Dr. Cullen and Edward Masen were too beautiful for men, they looked much too perfect, and Mrs. Cullen came too close to being as beautiful as I was so I reasoned that I was younger than her, and so youth was on my side. She would age soon enough and the strange jealousy I felt for their beauty would fade.

Not that it mattered. The Cullen’s were on the outside of society; they didn’t speak to anyone enough to be a fixture in our society. Unlike myself and my family. My father’s job meant we were ‘right where we needed to be’ as my mother had said. I knew that one day I would marry someone as beautiful as myself and together we would have many beautiful babies.

I approached the front desk at my father's bank, smiling sweetly at the teller. “Hello, could you call John Hale for me? I’m his daughter.”

“O-Of course, Miss Hale.” The young man knew who I was; his sister had attended a few of the etiquette classes I had attended a few years prior. Good for him for breaking out of his families ‘social shackles’ as my father would say. I hadn’t seen his sister since those classes and last I’d heard she had married a farmer and moved west.

What a shame.

What a life.

I took a seat on a bench, my hands clasped in front of me as I waited for my father to come down. His brown lunch bag and my purse occupied the seat next to me as I watched the people coming in and out.

My eyes were drawn to the large wooden door opposite where I was sat as it was pushed open and a few older men walked out, chuckling about something or another. Behind them, with a smile that nearly knocked me for six, was a handsome young man.

He must have been a few years older than me. His shoulders were broad, his straight-back posture oozing high-class, but his dark eyes were playful as he shared a few laughs with the men.

“Rosie,” I looked away from the handsome stranger to see my father standing in front of me. I stood and gave him a brief hug before giving him his lunch bag.

“You should go to see the doctor if you’re beginning to lose your mind.” I teased lightly, giving him a smile as he wiped his brow with his handkerchief.

As a laugh echoed across the bank, I looked back again to the men who were walking closer to where my father and I were stood. One of the men, who I recognised as Royce King, the owner of the bank and my fathers boss, halted the conversation as they stood in front of my father. “John,” he smiled, as he clasped my father's hand and shook it. “I wanted to congratulate you on the new system for loans. It’s saved us a lot of money this quarter,” he glanced over his shoulder to the men and I looked over to see the handsome young man staring right at me. As Royce King spoke again, I dropped my gaze with a blush. “John Hale is a real team player, an up and comer. Definitely one to look out for in the next few years.”

“That’s very kind of you, sir,” my father said, his forehead already starting to glisten again the more nervous he became. He gestured to me as he took out the handkerchief once more, “This is my daughter, Rosalie.”

“Rosalie,” Royce King took my hand and kissed the back of it as I smiled sweetly at him. As the young man stepped forward, Royce clapped him on the shoulder, “This is my son, Royce King Jr.”

The younger Royce took my hand, his dark eyes locked on mine as he kissed the back of it just as his father had done. “A beautiful name for a beautiful young lady,” he said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “I’m sure you hear such compliments all the time, but I cannot help but stare. You’re absolutely radiant.”

I smiled at him, my hand still cupped inside his, “Such kind words, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Royce King Sr interrupted the moment with a throaty cough, “John, you’re excused for the rest of the morning if you’d like to escort your daughter home once more.”

“Please, allow me to escort Rosalie home,” Royce said, reaching out to shake my father's hand. “You’re working hard here and I’d hate for you to break your flow on such a lucky day.”

My father nodded, mopping his brow once more, and Royce offered me his arm as we began to walk, my plans with my girlfriends forgotten.

“Do tell, why is today a lucky day?” I asked as we walked down the street together. I felt safe tucked against his side, my hand on his strong bicep. Royce was certainly someone my mother would approve of, though I was unsure of how she would feel about a young man I’d just met escorting me home.

Royce chuckled and already I was besotted with the sound. “Today must surely be a lucky day for me to meet you.”

He was absolutely charming and his smile swept me off my feet. I could already picture how happy we could be together; my parents would approve of me courting someone of such high-class, and with my beauty and Royce’s good looks our babies would be the most breath-taking children in the world.

As we approached my gate I wished the walk had taken longer, or that I had thought to detour the long way so that I might share some more time with Royce. Somehow, though, I knew that this would not be the last I would see of him.

My mother was waiting by the gate as we stopped outside, my father must have called ahead to ask her to look out... Or to gloat about their good fortune that a King was interested in me. “Mr. King, thank you very much for escorting Rosalie home,” my mother smiled, doing her best to give him her happiest smile. “You really didn’t have to.”

“It would be a crime to let such a beautiful woman walk away without me trying to get to know her better first.” He smiled at me and I relished the way he called me a woman and not a girl like my parents did.

Mother opened the gate and stood aside to let me in, but Royce touched my hand and held it softly. “If I may... I would love to take you to lunch, Rosalie,” he said, his dark eyes staring deeply into my own. I was already screaming yes on the inside. “How does tomorrow afternoon sound?”

“Perfect!” My mother said before I could even answer. I could already see how she would gloat to my Aunties. ‘My Rosalie, going out with a King! Of course, we always knew...’

I smiled at Royce, feeling my insides twist with butterflies as he smiled back. “I would love to.”

He brought my hand to his lips to kiss it once again, whispering. “Until tomorrow, beautiful Rose.”

As he walked back in the direction of the bank I let my mother pull me inside with talk of what to do with my hair, which dress I should wear or perhaps we should buy a new one. I couldn’t even begin to think of the small details; I had a date with the most handsome bachelor in town... I could hardly contain myself.

That night the first bouquet of roses appeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know.
> 
> This has taken a while, but I've found it quite hard to try and get into Rosalie's head for this. Of all the Cullen's I find her the absolute hardest to write, whether that's because I can't wrap my head around her vanity or because I haven't read a lot about her life before the Cullen's, I don't know. I hope this was up to expectations regardless.
> 
> Thank you for your support and, as always, your patience.
> 
> NinaKing


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters.

**“Once you see someone for who they really are, you can’t go back to seeing them for who you thought they were.”**

**Tara Geraghty**

 

1933

**Rosalie**

Courting Royce King Jr was everything I could have ever hoped for and so much more.

My bedroom was overflowing with fresh bouquets of roses and violets, so much so that I even carried the scent of them in my clothes and my hair. 

My mother and father were ready to burst with pride, showing off to just about anyone they could get to listen. My brothers had taken a serious back step since Royce had been in our lives, although he did try very hard to include them in conversation at our home, but my parents were uninterested in them at present. 

Royce’s mother and father were equally as pleased with our budding relationship; the short time I had spent at their estate had been spent playing badminton with Royce’s mother and sipping cocktails on the terrace. His mother had told me how she had always dreamed of a daughter to spoil until Royce had come along and now, she told me, she hoped that Royce and I might give her a granddaughter to spoil. 

I could picture our beautiful children playing in the large gardens of the Royce estate. I could see Royce and I teaching a beautiful little girl to walk on the terrace as her older brother cheered her on from the side. Royce wanted a boy first, he’d always made that clear, but after that he didn’t mind although he’d love a little girl too. 

Although it wasn’t unusual, I was the absolute envy of all of my friends. They usually envied me for my looks and the attention I received because of that, but now that they new about my courtship with Royce, they were practically green with envy.

All of them, that is, except for Vera. She was the only friend I knew who was genuinely happy for me, but I knew that was because she was so besotted with her husband, Christopher, and their little boy, Henry. I knew, deep down, that even if she didn’t have Christopher and Henry, she would still be excited for me. 

It came as no surprise to anyone when, two months into our courtship, Royce proposed to me and we made our intentions official. The large sparkling ring on my finger was a constant reminder of the life I was going to marry into, and the future I was about to embark upon, and I couldn't wait.

I was finally on the cusp of everything I had ever wanted and the name Rosalie King was sounding even more beautiful as the days drew closer to the wedding. 

It was three days before our beautiful Saturday wedding that I was visiting Vera for the last time before I became a married woman.

“I’m so excited for you, Rose,” Vera said, holding Henry on her lap as she admired my ring once again. “You’re a very lucky girl.”

As I watched Henry gurgle and look at his mother, I no longer felt the usual pang of guilt and longing. Before Royce, I had always looked at Vera’s beautiful dimpled little boy with a desperate sort of longing. How could Vera have so little and yet still have everything I wanted?

Now, however, I knew my future. 

In a few days time I would marry Royce in front of two hundred of our family and friends and soon we would start our beautiful family together. I had already begun toying with a couple of names for our future babies. Speaking to Royce one afternoon I had told him I adored Nancy or Violet for a girl and Alexander for a boy. Royce had agreed upon Violet King for a girl, because of my eyes that he hoped our daughter would share, and Alexander King was perfect for a boy. It was strong and noble.

I wasn’t even pregnant yet, but already I was excited to meet them.

“I can’t wait to give you a playmate, Henry,” I cooed, holding Henry’s chubby hands as he laughed. I pulled him in for a quick cuddle, admiring his little dimples once again, and smoothed his curls down. “I really should get home. I’ve still got so much to do for the wedding...”

Passing Henry back to his mother, we both went to the door. “Can I walk you home, Rosalie?” Christopher asked, “Or perhaps call your father to come and collect you?”

I looked out of the open door into the darkening street and clutched my coat a little tighter around myself. “I’ll be alright, thank you,” I said, looking back to the pair in time to catch Christopher placing a kiss to Vera’s cheek. “I’ll see you both at the wedding.”

Vera squeezed me tightly, little Henry babbling into my ear as she did so, and I made my way down their garden path and headed towards home.

The night air was crisp as it blew against my light coat and I started to wonder what the weather would be like on Saturday. I had planned for a beautiful spring wedding, after all, and if it rained it would really put a downer on my day. I didn’t want to have to move the wedding inside... All that planning would have been for nothing. 

I was a few blocks away from my house, to spend my last few nights at home alone before I moved into Royce’s home, when I heard them.

“Go on!” One voice jeered the loudest, causing me to slow my pace slightly. “Lob it! If you can break a light with that, I’ll drink to that!”

A loud cheer erupted and the sound of glass bottles dropping to the floor followed. 

Taking a detour around them would mean adding an extra twenty minutes to my journey home and it was looking like it was going to rain. 

Keeping my head down, I started to pass them and hoped that my heels clicking on the concrete wouldn’t interrupt their drunken games.

“Hey Rose!” A voice called, and I looked up to see Royce beckoning me over to where he stood with a group of his friends.

It was late but in my happiness to see him, even at this hour, I didn’t immediately register the bottle in his hands. Or the sway where he stood.

As I approached them, Royce handed his drink to his friend and took the final steps between us, taking my hand tightly and nearly dragging me to his friends. “We’ve been waiting for you,” he said, and I could smell the liquor on him. “There she is.” I tried to give his friends a pleasant smile, but Royce’s arm around my neck brought me closer to him as he pressed his lips to mine and roughly pushed his tongue into my mouth. I could taste the alcohol and cigars on his breath, the smell making me want to retch.

“Royce,” I tried to say around his lips, before pushing him off. “You’re drunk.”

He took hold of my chin, keeping my face in place as he presented me to the gentlemen, each of them with a bottle of something strong smelling in their hands. “Isn’t she lovely, John?” he asked, “I told you she was a looker.”

The man he’d spoken to, John, watched the two of us, slyly sipping from his bottle, “It’s hard to say with all those clothes on.”

I had heard of John before; he was an old college friend of Royce’s who had come into town for the wedding this weekend. I was supposed to be meeting him and his wife tomorrow evening for drinks at the Royce estate. The way his eyes moved up and down my body, I was sure I wasn’t going to enjoy his company the following evening.

Royce moved behind me, slipping his hand inside the neckline of my dress and raking his fingers against my skin, “What do you say, Rose? Why don’t we take off a few layers?”

“Stop,” I said, trying to manoeuvre him off me. His hands on me were suddenly making my skin crawl. I pushed him off me, finding my way out of his grip and pulling my coat back into place. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Sober.”

I gave Royce one final, hard look and turned to walk away from them. My fairytale Prince had turned into a drunken idiot even though I’d never seen him have much more than a sip of champagne to celebrate every now and then. I pulled my coat tighter around me, but felt his hands grab at my arm again and pull me roughly back towards his group of friends. “Where do you think you’re going?” His tone had taken on a malicious edge, and I thrashed hard against his grip though it made little difference. “Get back here. You’ll do as I say!”

His friends cheered him on as he popped the buttons of my coat roughly and dropped it to the floor. That coat had been a gift from him, but he didn’t seem to care about that or my hat as he pulled it off my head, ripping the pins from my scalp. 

I cried out in pain, but that only seemed to spur them on more.

“Stop!” I yelled, trying to push Royce off me. I couldn’t believe that a few drinks had changed him from the charming young man I had been so in love with to this monster who was offering me up to his friends like a dish on a silver tray. “Royce, please! Let go!”

Time passed slowly and the cold didn’t bother me as their hands moved over me, hurting more and more of my body and mind. Once they were finished with me, they discarded me on the floor like an empty bottle of alcohol and started to slink away into the night.

“Looks like you’re going to have to find a new bride.” One of them joked, causing all of the monsters to laugh in unison. 

I laid still for a while, waiting until I hoped they were far enough away before I rolled onto my back and cried quietly. 

I moved a hand over my body, feeling every cut and tender piece of skin, and lifted my hand only to see it bright red with my own blood. Closing my eyes, I tried to ignore the pain, wishing only for relief no matter how it came. 

I thought of my mother and father, how devastated they would be... How, if I somehow survived, they would be ashamed that I could no longer be beautiful. 

Royce had ruined me.

He had taken me for himself and then given me to his friends and ruined me. They’d beaten me and left me in the street to die alone and cold. But even this was better than facing life and not being beautiful anymore...

As the throbbing in my head reached a peak, I prepared to let the numbing feeling that was traveling through my fingers and toes take over. I was ready to let go and die.

I had quickly made peace with never being able to see my family again, never being able to bring beautiful babies into the world... That I could face. As long as I never had to feel pain again. 

A new sense of cold washed over me and a new sharp pain at my wrists and neck. I couldn’t find my voice to talk, to beg the pain to leave me be and let me die with what little peace I had left.

“Hold on, Rosalie. I’m going to make this all better, I promise, but you’ve got to hold on.”

Suddenly I was flying through the air, held down against something solid and hard. 

Letting go was easy, I couldn’t listen to the voice. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! A lot sooner than I usually update, I'll admit but I've had my muse back these last few days and have tried to get as much out of it as I can.
> 
> I hope you're all enjoying this story still. Your comments and kudos brighten my day, so thank you.
> 
> NinaKing.


	30. Chapter Thirty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We followed the story of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen through the books and movies, but now it's time to see the Cullen's as they were before Bella. Their origins and how the came to be the coven they are today. Starting with Carlisle Cullen, their founder, leader, and the soul of their coven. Following through Edward, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper. This is their story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not now, nor ever will, own the Twilight Saga or its characters.

**“Anger doesn’t solve anything. It builds nothing, but it can destroy everything.”**

**Quotling.com**

 

**Edward**

The music flowed effortlessly from my piano as my fingers danced along the black and white keys. After playing for so many years the melodies came as effortless to me as breathing did. I could write a new piece in a matter of minutes and rewrite it as needed if Esme felt it needed ‘a little extra’ as she’d usually say. There was nothing in the world that made me feel more at peace than playing my piano, especially if my mother was in the room and humming along quietly under her breath.

Seeing how Esme had changed in the time I was away had made me completely rethink my understanding of the newborn stage. While I had settled relatively easily into my new life, my rebellious stage forgotten at present, Esme had struggled more than I. She had struggled with her thirst and with control, but now she was easily as in control as myself. I knew that it all came with practice and time, but could it be that our human lives before our immortal ones could affect how in control we are as newborns?

“You look very thoughtful, Edward.” Esme murmured from the sofa, paused in reading the book in her hands.

I looked away from the piano keys and met my mother's golden eyes with a small smile. “Just pondering the matters of life and the universe.”

She smiled in return, “Of course.”

“What I mean is; do you think that the life we live before immortality could have an impact on how in control we are when we’re newborn?” I asked, turning on my stool slightly. “Surely we bring a certain amount of it into our new lives.”

Esme placed her bookmark between her pages, looking thoughtful. “I suppose it could... So, say for instance someone has a very traumatic transformation into this life... It could make their self-control hard to grasp?” She was thoughtful a moment longer before she smiled again. “While you could very well be right, I believe our paths are what we make them. Only you can truly change a situation for yourself, no one else can do it for you.”

No one out there could possibly be as loving and optimistic as my mother. She managed to see the good in all, and I wondered if that itself contributed to how far she had come with her self-control. I always knew she felt guilty whenever she killed a human, but maybe that had pushed her to really try hard with it and eventually get to the stage she was at now?

The sound of hasty footsteps up the porch steps pulled me from my contemplating and a glance at the clock on the wall confirmed my thoughts: Carlisle was home. The front door opened and slammed shut just as quickly, as my father hastened through the house to the spare bedroom at the back.

“Esme, Edward, I need your help!” He called, and both of us jumped to our feet and followed him through.

The scent of human blood hit me as I stepped into the room and saw what Carlisle needed help with.

A woman was lying on the bed, covered in blood and torn clothing. Her pulse was weak, but I could already see the bite marks on her wrists and neck and hear in her thoughts how the venom was beginning to spread fire around her veins.

“Carlisle, are you insane?” I snapped, as Esme stopped her breathing in its tracks. Her control was better than it had ever been, but I knew how she didn’t like to put herself in the way of temptation.

He ignored me as he placed another bite to the other side of her neck, causing her heart to jump again and her pulse to beat stronger. Esme went to the girl's side as she thrashed against the bed, gently but firmly holding her arms in place.

“Carlisle,” I repeated, as he continued to work. I looked into the girl's thoughts, staring hard at her face. She was someone I knew... That blonde hair... Even below the swelling and bruising, I could recognize those features from somewhere.

As the girl started to thrash, her eyes opening slightly as she begged Carlisle and Esme to make the pain go away, it clicked in my mind.

I had heard that voice before.

“What were you thinking, Carlisle?” I spat and my parents looked at me. “Rosalie Hale?”

I could hear in her thoughts the questioning over if something was wrong with her, but the pain overtook her vanity and she screamed again, begging for it to end. Carlisle had saved Esme and I from death, I had nothing against him saving another... But Rosalie Hale? I had seen her on a few occasions, heard her shallow and childish thoughts, and besides the glaringly obvious reasons why she shouldn’t spend eternity as one of us, she was going to stand out like a sore thumb.

Esme placed a hand on my shoulder as I stepped towards my father, ' _Edward, calm down.’_ Her thoughts were pleading, but her face stern.

“I couldn’t just let her die,” Carlisle said quietly, as he sat beside Rosalie, letting her squeeze his hand. “It was too much - too horrible, too much waste.”

“I know.” Through the pain her thoughts threw the same face kept jumping out at me. ‘Royce King.’ Their engagement had been splattered all over the newspapers in town and the Kings had always been an uncaring family... However, I’d never pinned their immoral son as a murderer, among other things.

Rosalie screamed out again, her body thrashing against the bed. Carlisle’s face looked pained as he watched her. I’d seen this expression before when he was turning Esme. Though, the look of guilt was a thousand times worse while watching his would-be wife cry out to die.

“It was too much waste,” he whispered once Rosalie’s screams had turned to a whimper, “I couldn’t leave her.”

“Of course you couldn’t.” Esme agreed, going over to rest her hands on his shoulders comfortingly. In Esme’s eyes, Rosalie was already a part of this family.

My voice turned hard after hearing my mothers acceptance of her, “People die all the time,” I reminded him. “Don’t you think she’s a little recognizable, though? The Kings will have to put up a huge search - not that anyone suspects the fiend.”

Their minds were made up. I couldn’t change what had happened; Rosalie was already beginning to take on the characteristics of one of our kind. Her matted blonde hair had begun to turn silky at the roots, and the purple bruises across her skin had begun fading. She had two more days to burn through, however, before her heart stopped beating and I had two days to rage through at my father's carelessness before we had to deal with the consequences.

“What are we going to do with her?” I asked, willing my father to step forward with some great big plan he had in mind and reassure me he hadn’t just acted on a whim.

I tried to take a step inside his mind for any clues that might help to settle my annoyance and anxiety, but I was met with thought concentrating on Rosalie and the state he had found her in. He gave nothing away to me.

 _‘We’ll have to move...’_ Esme thought, _‘You’re right, she has a very distinct look to her...’_

“That’s up to her, of course. She may want to go her own way.” Carlisle said,

 _‘Go my own way?’_ Rosalie thought through the pain. I could see in her mind that she didn’t understand what we were saying, but if we were causing her pain she would happily escape us into death.

If only it were that easy for her.

The room lapsed into silence as I pondered Carlisle’s words, excusing Rosalie’s sounds of suffering. If she wanted to go her own way, lead her own life as it were, it meant that our trio of a family could continue. I had no reservations against her directly, but from what I knew already of her mind, I knew that living with her would not be easy. Especially not if we were to uproot ourselves and start over again with her.

Somehow I couldn’t see Rosalie embracing immortality like the rest of us...

As Carlisle started to mutter words of apology and comfort to Rosalie, Esme left his side and came to stand in front of me. “Come hunting with me.” It wasn’t a request.

I followed my mother out of the house and into the woods, leaving Rosalie’s sobs in the house behind me with my father. Esme’s thoughts betrayed nothing of what she was really thinking as we ran deep into the forest together. Each one of her thoughts wondered about what to get in for Rosalie for when her transformation was complete, but I knew Esme well enough to know when she was trying to keep her thoughts to herself.

We hunted together in our lapsed silence, taking down a herd of elk between us and only once we had buried the carcasses and sat down by a stream did Esme speak to me.

“Were you this apprehensive about Carlisle changing me?” she asked, her golden eyes focused on where I sat on a rock.

“What?” I choked out. How could she even think that? Esme and I had been close since the day she was changed, and I knew from Carlisle’s mind and the desperation he had to save her that she belonged with us. “Of course not, Esme. I knew you were right for this family, and I trusted Carlisle in his choice.”

“So, what’s changed? Why don’t you trust him with this choice?”

Trying to arrange my thoughts in a way that wouldn’t sound too harsh against Rosalie was harder than I anticipated. I couldn’t explain this annoyance I had for a girl I’d knew absolutely nothing about. “I’ve got a bad feeling about her,” I said at last. “From what I’ve seen... She’s incredibly shallow, Esme. Extremely materialistic and very hot headed... At the very least she’s bringing us trouble that we don’t need right now. It’s not like we can hide her, or move right away either. Rosalie Hale goes missing and the elusive Cullen family that live on the edge of town run off three days later? It’s a bad situation.”

“Do you still trust him?” She asked quietly.

“Of course I do. He’s my father.”

“Then trust that he’s thought of a way out of this,” The complete faith Esme had in Carlisle never failed to amaze me. She loved him with everything she had, but her faith in his actions was even greater than that. “He wouldn’t have put us in danger here.”

I had no response to that. Of course, I knew that Carlisle would never knowingly put his family in danger, I had to trust that he’d thought this the whole way through before acting.

But the way he’d come running in with Rosalie in his arms had doubt nagging in the back of my mind...

The next two days passed without trouble, but it did nothing to ease my apprehension. Carlisle called in to take time off from the hospital, citing an unwell sister that he needed to go and tend to urgently, and Esme and I made sure to keep up appearances by going into town for human necessities as we had done previously. We made small talk with the baker and butcher about Carlisle’s sister, Esme keeping our lie going by saying Carlisle had called a day previously and shouldn’t be gone longer than a few more days or so. We heard whispers in the street about Rosalie’s disappearance; there were flyers up everywhere and the King family had arranged searches every night to try to find her. One young woman, in particular, had broken into tears when looking at a flyer bearing Rosalie’s smiling face taped to a lamppost.I saw in her mind that Rosalie had been a friend of hers; she’d been at the woman’s house the night she’d been attacked. I heard the guilt in her mind but I knew I could offer no words of solace without endangering my family.

The small child in her arms had seen his mothers distress and too started crying until a young man had taken him from her and escorted her back down the street they had come from.

Royce King played the part of the concerned fiancé well. Esme and I saw him on the street asking passersby for any information that they might have to find ‘My beautiful Rosalie.’ To townsfolk, he was going above and beyond what was expected of him, but we knew the truth. Everyone seemed to have bought that Royce was the innocent man, desperately in search of his missing bride, even Rosalie’s own mother, who often walked the streets of the town handing out flyers, was closer to him than she had been before.

“She’s more concerned about Rosalie not being here to marry into the King family than she is about Rosalie not being here.” I had whispered to Esme when her thoughts showed genuine concern for Mrs. Hale’s pain.

Esme had been sure to visit a store a few towns over to buy some things for Rosalie. She’d cleaned all traces of blood off her and managed to comb her hair as it grew thicker, and even changed her into a more modest dress for when she woke up. Rosalie’s old clothing was burnt in the garden; such a reminder would probably only anger the blonde.

On the third day of Rosalie’s transformation Esme and I made our trip to town early and short, so we were not gone too long. Rosalie’s thoughts had turned from misery to anger and frustration about Royce and what she’d been told was happening to her in the hours before. We all agreed it best we present a united front when her transformation was over.

“It shouldn’t be too much longer,” Carlisle said to Rosalie, who’s screamed had subsided in the last few hours. Her heart had begun to thud lazily too and we were just waiting for it to pick up before it went still.

I had been composing something new on the piano when I heard it in the back room; the sound of her heart picking up pace wildly and quickly. Esme and I moved at the same time and joined Carlisle, now standing by the door, in the spare room.

When the rapid beating finally stilled everything in the room was silent.

_‘What is this...’_

Rosalie’s bright red eyes had opened to the ceiling above her and I watched through her eyes as she saw every particle in the air move. She stared right into a corner of the room, looking at every flake of paint and line in the woodwork. I could see it all new through her eyes and, for the moment she was still.

She became suddenly aware of our presence in the room and, although she had heard us talking for the past three days and had seen us through her human eyes, she still threw herself backward and snarled at us.

 _‘Was that me?'_ Her surprise overtook her hostility momentarily but she held herself in place. The fascination of being new to this life was not something that could be overruled by anger easily, but Rosalie was steadily making her way there.

Her eyes locked on Carlisle and her thoughts turned angry again. “What did you do to me?” She demanded, and I heard how she admired the sound of her voice now that it rung like bells.

“I’ve turned you into a vampire, one like us,” Carlisle said again, as calm as ever. “You were dying.”

Rosalie’s eyes narrowed at my father and I took a step forward in warning. “I wanted to die! If you knew half of what those monsters did to me... The only peace they gave me was leaving me in the street to die and you took that from me!”

I caught the painting that she’d taken from the wall and hurled, easily setting it down by the door as she looked for new things to throw.

“That’s not going to cause the damage you want it to,” I said to her, my voice low. “We’re indestructible like you are.”

My words of caution did nothing to sway her as she went on a rampage through the room, destroying everything in her sight. In her anger, she tossed the bed over and kicked it in half. Her fists flew through the concrete bricks, knocking into the dining room and causing the ceiling to flake slightly. I moved to attempt to restrain her, but Carlisle’s hand on my shoulder stopped me.

“I hate you!” She finally screamed at Carlisle, when she realized that breaking things felt like pushing through doors and didn’t give her the satisfaction of releasing any anger. “You stole my life away and you gave me this! Who the hell do you think you are?!”

“You were dying, Rosalie!” I snapped. Carlisle was able to keep a calm face in front of her anger, but I felt the urge to protect my family bubble inside. “And what a way to go! You were going to die on the street, cold and alone. Carlisle thought he was giving you an alternative like he did with Esme and I, but obviously, you’d rather not be here. Your little tantrum isn’t going to fix anything, there’s nothing we can do about this now. So, if you’d rather not be around someone you hate so much, there’s the damn door!”

“Edward, language!” Esme’s tone was appalled.

Rosalie stared at me long and hard, her red eyes trying to dig a hole through my golden ones. I could see in her mind she was weighing up the option of coming over and ripping my head from my shoulders, briefly wondering if she’d manage that. I moved forward into more of a slight crouch, silently warning her to come and try it with me. Her newborn anger ebbed into a frustration and she dropped her gaze from mine.

“I didn’t ask for this.” She said, at last, swallowing through the thirst and anger thickly.

“None of us did, least of all Carlisle,” Esme said softly, “Perhaps we could talk about this later? You look quite uncomfortable, dear, and we all know how bad the thirst is when you first wake up.”

I could still hear the anger and frustration in her thoughts but they didn’t come to the surface as Esme walked around the mess in the room and offered Rosalie her hand. The blonde newborn stared at it a moment, debating whether or not to go with my mother before her thirst ultimately won out and she took Esme’s hand.

“Would you two mind cleaning this up?” She asked, reaching up to kiss Carlisle’s cheek as she passed.

Carlisle gently took hold of Esme’s arm to stop her walking, “You shouldn’t take her alone.” As compassionate and forgiving as Carlisle was, he knew what a newborn’s strength could do and he didn’t want Esme bearing the brunt of that alone.

“If she smells human blood and runs, you won’t be able to stop her,” I said, as Rosalie turned her glare onto me.

Esme glanced at me, before smiling at Carlisle reassuringly. "I'll take her somewhere secluded. Please - She’s not going to do anything."

_‘Talking about me like I’m not even here.’_

“Control your temper.” I snapped at Rosalie. I was siding with Carlisle on this one - I didn’t want my mother alone anywhere with Rosalie. Not while she was so quick to anger.

 _‘Follow on in a moment... She obviously doesn’t trust you both right now, and who would in her position? She’s vulnerable and probably a bit frightened,’_ Esme thought, her eyes turning to mine. _‘I know you don’t trust her, but let me try to get through to her.’_

I nodded, giving Carlisle a look telling him that I’d tell him as soon as they were out of earshot. As Esme took Rosalie out of the room, I gave the blonde woman a final warning look.

As much as I trusted my mother's ability to win around just about anyone... I wasn’t so sure about Rosalie.

 

**Rosalie**

I followed Esme from the house, leaving those two in the wake of the destruction I had caused in their house. My mother would have scolded me for such a reaction... I painfully reminded myself that it didn’t matter what my mother thought of such behaviour now; Carlisle had made it clear that I could never see my family or friends again. I would never get to have my big white wedding, my beautiful babies, or the life I’d always wanted. That had been easy to accept when I thought I was dying... Stuck with this half of a life meant that time would pass me by and I would not experience any of it.

Dying would have been better.

“It gets easier to deal with the frustration and the thirst with time,” Esme said, as we ran through the forest. I was amazed; both at how easily Esme had accepted me and how easy it was to keep up a conversation while running at this speed. I’d never so much as jogged before but now the trees were whizzing past me at an alarming speed.

We stopped suddenly amongst the trees: I ignored Esme’s comment, sure that I would never not be annoyed at Dr. Cullen for what he had done, and instead listened.

I could hear everything around me; from the stream somewhere in the distance to the bees buzzing in the trees above, and the croak of a frog far beyond where I was standing.

“What are we doing here?” I demanded, feeling the fire burn deeper in my throat with these new smells surrounding me. There was something delicious hovering in the air, which made my mouth flood but I couldn’t place it, and that agitated me.

“We’re hunting,” she said simply, as though she was telling me we were taking a walk to the butchers. “Do you remember what Carlisle told you about our kind?”

Vampires.

The word itself made me cringe internally; the idea that I would believe them seemed ludicrous to me a day before, but now I had nothing else to fall back on. The agile way I ran through the forest, the incredible sight I woke up with, and the aching burn at the back of my throat left me with little option but to believe the Doctor.

Thinking of the blonde male made my temper flare again.

Esme must have seen the change in my stance and the way I glared off into the forest because she held a hand up to me and said; “Focus.”

I shook my head, trying to listen to what she was telling me. For some reason or another, I was quite determined not to annoy or enrage Esme, although I couldn’t see her getting angry at very much. Edward and Dr. Cullen were strangers to me, but somehow Esme felt more like a lifeline than not.

“Close your eyes and breathe deeply,” she instructed. “Your instincts will know what to do.”

I did as she asked, closing my eyes off to the world around me and attempted to concentrate on breathing in.

I could almost taste the trees around me. There was a damp taste in the air... Moss maybe? And something else that was sweet but not tasty sweet... Perhaps that was Esme, standing in front of me.

As the delicious smell from before crossed my path again, my mouth watered and my eyes snapped open. I felt my muscles coiling as I let a low growl out to Esme, who met my gaze but said nothing and launched myself towards the source of the delicious smell.

Nearing the scent I saw what I had been tracking. Thirty feet, or three seconds if I launched myself, was a mountain lion unknowingly stalking its own prey. I watched as it padded gently along the ground, trying not to draw attention to itself in the bushes it was hiding in. Like a moth to a flame, I was drawn straight to the warm, pulsing center of the animal's neck. My teeth cut through it like butter as my hands wrapped around it and crushed it against me.

The first rush of the animal's blood down my throat had me in a frenzy; I held the creature, sinking down to the ground with it, until I could drain no more blood from it. It had long since stopped moving so I unlocked my grip and stood up. The dress I had been wearing was completely covered in the lion's blood; streaks of dirt from the ground criss crossing across it and my knees.

I heard the approach behind me before they’d even appeared from the thick trees and turned around to see Edward and Esme assessing the damage I’d done. They didn’t look horrified, as I would have done seeing the scene before me. Edward was... Well, Edward. He stared at me with his steel glare, completely unmoving as if he expected me to launch myself and start attacking the two of them.

 _‘Get a life, moron. Stop staring at me so much.’_ I thought to myself and could have sworn I saw a small tug at the corner of his lips.

Esme had a strange sort of pride across her face as she looked at me. How anyone could be proud of the mess I’d created out of that lion was beyond me, but the ache in my throat had settled to a dull throb. It wasn’t ignorable but it certainly wasn’t as bad as before.

There was no denying now what I had become.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey,
> 
> So a much longer chapter than I usually write this time.
> 
> I'm really enjoying getting to know Rosalie as I'm writing her and I hope everyone thinks I'm recreating an accurate portrayal of her. 
> 
> The next update isn't far off, the chapter's nearly done so I'll have that up for you all soon.
> 
> Thank you all!
> 
> NinaKing


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